


An Unusual Course of Treatment

by ughiguess



Category: Thor (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Erotica, Eventual Sex, Explicit Language, F/M, Love Triangles, Mildly Dubious Consent, Sex Magic, Sex Pollen, Smut
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-15
Updated: 2016-03-21
Packaged: 2018-05-06 22:08:58
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 21
Words: 56,562
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5432546
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ughiguess/pseuds/ughiguess
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jane is cursed  and Thor has to let Loki cure her. This story picks up when Jane falls into another realm (spoiler alert?) through the soft spot caused by the Convergence. She touches an object of power that has a spell cast on it instead of the rock that contains the Aether. Loki is allowed out of prison to help her, but will he be able to 'treat' Jane without developing feelings for her, or being pounded into dust by Thor?</p>
<p>Based on the sex pollen trope with a little bit of a sleeping beauty vibe, except that Jane is awake for the sex. Canon divergence set during Thor: TDW. Why am I so bad at summaries?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> I began this a while ago and have a lot of it planned out. I have about 15 chapters planned, most erotic in nature. I am trying to improve my sex writing (and writing in general) so if you like it or don't let me know what I can do to improve. If you absolutely hate this, let me know why; I know it's a ridiculous premise, but I'm trying to write it as sincerely as possible.
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own anything Marvel related. I do this for fun, not profit. Uses some quotes from Thor II but in different contexts, please don't sue.

_“Jane… Where the hell were you?”_

_“Tell me you didn’t call the police.”_

_“What was I supposed to do?”_

_“Not call the police?”_

_“I was freaking out-“_

_“You call the cops, they call the feds. Next thing you know we have SHIELD crawling all over, Area 51ing the place”._

_“Jane-“_

_“We had a stable gravitational anomaly! We had unimpeded access! Our only competition was 10 years old!”_

_“Jane! You were gone for 5 hours.”_

_“What?”  (Thor: The Dark World)  
_

_…_

For Jane Foster, the sensation of standing next to Thor after almost two years of searching the stars was overpowering. That or he just looked extremely hot in all that armor. In his breastplate, pauldrons, and cape, he was easily a match for an NFL linebacker in breadth and taller than her by nearly a foot. Neither seemed to know what to do and it was a blessed relief to just mentally say ‘screw it’ and start kissing.

Perhaps it was the loss of brain function brought on by oxygen deprivation or maybe there was some residual warrior-god-makes-Viking-lasses-swoon mojo that clung to Thor, because Jane didn’t immediately realize that something wasn’t right. She felt dizzy and her pulse quickened… down there. Even so, these seemed like reasonable reactions. His lips broke off the kiss and they smiled at each other for a few moments more. Then Jane’s eyes closed and she slumped in his arms, unconscious.

“Jane?” Thor shouted, lowering her down onto the concrete. “Jane?”

His voice drew Darcy’s attention and she came jogging towards them from a give-you-two-some-space distance. “What the hell did you do?” She nearly screamed, punching him on the shoulder.

“Nothing, I don’t know what happened. She just went to sleep.” He nudged her gently repeating her name but got no reaction.

“Okay, well, maybe she was overwhelmed by the sight of your biceps and just fainted.”

“Does that happen a lot to Earth women?” asked Thor, guilessly. “How long will it last?” Darcy ignored this.

“Hey, this is nothing. You should have seen her the morning after we got here and she didn’t know that British people pretty much _only_ make alcoholic lemonade. I totally have this.” Darcy grasped Jane’s shoulders and shook her hard, yelling her name in a grating tone.

Nothing happened.

“Ok-aaay…Oh, wait, I got it.” She slapped Jane across the face.

“Have a care!” Thor shouted, grabbing her wrist and turning her to face him. “I do not fight women but if you harm Jane Foster again I shall…” He hadn’t thought it through, nothing he could think of seemed remotely proportionate to their relative size and power differential. “Be very angry.” He finished, lamely.

“Well I had to do something!”

They turned back to Jane, who was still out cold on the wet pavement looking none too comfortable.

Thor knelt by her side and took her hand gently. “She has a steady heartbeat.” He cupped her cheek in his hand. It was cold, colder than it should have been even after the freak rainstorm. He lifted her eyelid and jerked back at what he saw.

“What is it,” said, Darcy from behind him.

“She seems to be blind.” An incredulous tone was creeping into his voice. “And purple.”

“Ooh, Like Elizabeth Taylor?” asked Darcy, crouching quickly to see and starting to fumble for her camera-phone. Jane’s iris was not purple, her whole eyeball was. In fact there was no pupil or iris to be seen. “So _not_ like Elizabeth Taylor,” said Darcy, in a tone that seemed more appropriate to finding that someone had put the Pop Tart box back in the cupboard empty.

“You speak strangely,” said Thor dismissively, lifting Jane into his arms and standing. “I must take her to Asgard. The healers there will discover what is wrong far faster than your Earth doctors.” He took a few steps back and he and Jane disappeared in a column of rainbow light without another word.

“Uh, bye,” said Darcy.


	2. Chapter 1

 

Jane Foster had lain in the healing chamber for over an hour without so much as a twitch. Orbs of detection had been run over her whole body; sacred stones of illumination had been placed at herchakras with no success. Acrid smokes of detection filled the air, hanging uselessly and making the atmosphere seem even more dire than Thor’s relentless pacing which was wearing a trail on the floor.

“We cannot determine the cause of this somnolence,” said a healer to the fretful demi-god.

“There must be something you can do! I must know what has happened! I must save her.”

There was some commotion outside the chamber and a great shuffling of boots as the hinges of the doors began to rattle. “Thor!” shouted Odin from his place in the doorway. “What is the meaning of this?” Odin continued in a hoarse and forceful voice, stomping towards them. “You have brought that mortal to Asgard, against my specific command!”

“Father, I have brought Jane Foster here because she will not wake. She collapsed and has not stirred these two hours.”

“Her people have their own healers, she should be taken to them,” said Odin, coming closer to the bed.

“All Father, if I may,” said the chief healer, timidly. “We have tried many things. It is as his highness says, the mortal does not wake. If we cannot find the problem, the Midgardian healers stand little chance.” At this, Thor seemed to calm himself slightly, much to the relief of the healer he had been looming over.

Odin seemed to consider for a moment, his brow troubled. It had been becoming more and more clear to him over the last year that Thor was not rising from the gloomy mood that had descended upon him since his return from exile on Midgard. This mortal was the cause. He knew that the situation was delicate. If he had his guards take her back to Midgard, it was as good as sentencing her to death. If she stayed, he did not know what would happen, but it would buy time. Time perhaps, for Thor to see the impossibility of a relationship with Jane Foster. Her brief mortality would show itself. If she remained in her coma for even a few more hours, it would be a harsh lesson to his wayward son and heir. Cynical perhaps, but the king of the Nine Realms could not afford to be sentimental.

Outwardly, his expression did not soften. He made his way across the room to stand by Thor. His voice was gruff, “My son, surely you must see how fragile this Midgardian woman is. She cannot hope to –“

He was interrupted by the arrival of Frigga, who had her skirts hoisted around her ankles and was practically jogging towards them. “Oh, my son!” she said to Thor in a breathless voice. “I just heard that your mortal was brought here. “

“Yes, mother. This is Jane Foster,” he said, gesturing limply, resignation starting to creep into his voice as he looked between his father, mother, and would-be girlfriend. Frigga circled the plinth where Jane lay, looking her over from head to toe. “She is beautiful, you did not exaggerate. But this is not the time…” She trailed off, and seemed to notice something.

“Mother?” Thor began.

“Shh, a moment please,” she replied, her hands now hovering over Jane’s body, her eyes closed. The healers, who had retreated when Odin had begun his tirade, returned to Jane’s side. Everyone hovered around silently as Frigga’s hands swept over Jane’s body, hovering a few inches above it. When she opened her eyes again, she looked at Odin, not Thor.

“There is magic here. It is deep within her, and delicate. I can feel traces in every limb.”

“Can you help her?” said Thor, rushing to her side. He went to take Jane’s hand in his, but Frigga blocked him and continued her movements as if searching for something.

“Do not touch her until we know more.” She said. Thor made a face akin to his pout from childhood, but she returned her gaze to the All Father, in whose brow could finally be seen the beginnings of concern. “This magic is stronger than my own. I cannot find its root.” She paused, as if girding herself for a fight. “But one in Asgard has magic beyond mine.”

There was a long moment when all that could be heard was the slow breathing from the woman on the table and bell-like tones from one of the healers’ devices.  

“No!” growled Odin suddenly, turning away and striding toward the door, his cape billowing out behind him.

“Father!” Thor took off after him, grabbing his arm. “We must allow him to examine her.” 

“I have made myself very clear.” Odin’s voice was clipped, every word distinct and definitive. “Loki is to remain in the dungeons forever more. He is dangerous, resentful, and full of hate for me and you too. Even if I were to let him see her, he tried to take over her planet, killed countless Midgardians, what would her life mean to him?”  

“He can start making it up to the Midgardians, one at a time,” Thor said angrily, his father scoffing. Thor sighed, “I do not trust him either, father. And I would prefer it if he never had cause to meet Jane Foster, but you must allow it, if there is even a chance he can save her. I will not let her die.” His father’s face remained firm. “If I lose her, what does the throne of Asgard mean to me if I am alone as I sit upon the dais?”

“Enough!” yelled Odin. “Do you threaten to abandon your responsibilities to Asgard over this mortal? Do you think I would allow you to sit her on your mother’s throne? She is to us as a goat is to her own people. They have their own society-” 

Thor cut him off, a rare occurrence, and one that struck the All Father silent. “I do not mean to sit her on the throne, but I cannot be myself without her. I would not be myself had I not met her in my exile! She is the one who has brought out the change in me of which you seem to be so proud of late.” 

The All Father was inwardly fuming; he’d been backed into a corner. Thor was right and what was worse, Loki had been right too. Thor _had_ been a witless oaf before his fall to Midgard. His tenuous, newfound maturity set its fulcrum on Jane Foster’s life. In truth, the decision was already made. 

“Guards!” He shouted, waiting for two to rush in before continuing in a most imperious manner, even for him. “I will see the prisoner, Loki. Prepare a squad for his transport, bind his hands and collar him against the use of his tricks.” He stormed out of the room, leaving the guards stunned, Thor relieved and Frigga shocked.

\--- 

Loki was brought before Odin much changed from how he had appeared a year ago. His hair was longer, and his face more sallow. He had a hungry, feral look about his eyes. His armor was gone, his inability to maintain the illusion while in his bonds left him dressed only in simple black trousers and a long frayed green tunic, washed out and as dull in color as the metal chains that bound him. There was no smug smile on his face this time, but that didn’t necessarily mean he had been defeated. Odin motioned for the guards to secure the chains to strong rings bolted into the floor. He instructed them to leave and as they filed out, Thor entered, leaving the three of them the sole occupants of the absurdly large, golden throne room. Thor neared the dais to stand in front of Loki, but kept back and off to the side.

“If you wanted to see me, surely a visit to the dungeons would have been more efficient?” 

“Silence!” Odin rasped. “Or I will have your mouth sewn shut.” 

Loki made the briefest of nods and waited, alternating his gaze between his erstwhile family members.  

It was Thor who spoke. “Loki, we have need of your skill as a mage.” At this, Loki couldn’t help was laugh, turning his head away to hide his smile from the two grave men. “I do not jest,” Thor continued. “I have brought someone to Asgard, in whose body flows some strange magic. Even mother cannot see it clearly. She believes you may be able to find its cause.” 

Loki quirked an eyebrow at Odin, requesting permission to speak. Granted it, he said, “This is delightful irony, brother. You have need of the skills you and the other warriors scoffed at all these years, calling them tricks, as if they were not just as deadly as a sword. I have spent a year in a cell that drains me of my powers, and now you wish me to use them?” His laugh was a bitter noise, partly a tsk. “Is that to be my life? Will you let me out of my cage only when you want to use me?”

“It may be that you cannot help this mortal,” said Odin, joining the conversation at last. “You will diagnose the magic, and that may very well be the end of it.” It was Odin’s turn to be smug, he practically slouched back on the throne. “Whether there is any further use for you that warrants your respite from the dungeons remains to be seen.”

“I will take you to the healers’ chambers and you shall make of it what you will.” Thor continued. “Be warned, Jane Foster is dear to me and I will not see her threatened in the slightest way. Will you do it?”

Loki was silent for a few moments. He was not deciding, it would have been insane to say no. Instead he was thinking about the name. A plain, Midgardian name if ever he had heard one. He had expected the victim of this mysterious illness to be one of Thor’s new friends, Stark perhaps, who had after all been into the outer atmosphere, or one who had fought on the ground and could have picked up any number of contagions from the Chitauri or whatever else the Other may have sent to spy on him. He had suspected it would not be the little archer but perhaps it would be the woman, though he seemed to remember her name being exotic. His mind was slow from disuse. He cast through the cobwebs in his mind back to his previous trip to Midgard. That was it. It was Thor’s little mortal, the source of his unexpected conversion. This was too delicious.

“Jane Foster?” he smirked. “That skirt you chased on Midgard? You _have_ changed, brother. Time was you’d forgotten their names before your cock was soft again.” Thor was on him in a second, Mjolnir thrust under his chin, forcing his head back uncomfortably far. He could see Odin, who had averted his eyes. Loki had been deliberately crude, wanting to see how Thor would react; did his brother really care so much about this plain Jane Foster?

“Have care Loki!” Thor grumbled, “I am not so changed that I will not beat you for your impudence. She will hear none of that, or I will know who told her.” Loki nodded and Thor relented with his hammer and backed off.

“You must be truly desperate,” he said to Thor. Turning to Odin, he said “And you have agreed to this fa- All Father? You who would not even execute me and spare me the boredom of that cell?”

“It seems if I had let the axe swing, I would have been chopping off my own head. A king with one son has few choices,” said Odin, a hard look on his face. “I have agreed that while you aid Jane Foster you will be given the freedom of the palace under guard at all times. Honestly, I do not know what I will do with you when she no longer needs your help. You would be wise to keep your schemes in check, lest my mood sours at your next sentencing.”

Loki nodded his brief bow again, and the guards were ushered back in to release him from the chains. He remained in a pair of handcuffs that had cogs and interlocking parts, some of which must have been magical because he felt absolutely certain that his own magic was now limited in some way. Thor led the party out of the throne room and through the halls toward the healing chambers.

Other Asgardians gasped to see Loki amidst them again. Some stared, some hid their faces. He heard whispers, many invoking the name of Odin. He had not donned his armor again, but he thought, good, let them see him brought low. The rumors would start to spread soon enough and his newfound position, despite his disheveled appearance, would make them all the more curious.

For now, he ignored them and turned his thoughts the All Father. Loki noticed Odin hadn’t been specific about the results he was expected to achieve. Whether he could cure Thor’s woman or not seemed immaterial to Odin, a curious disposition. The line he toed would be a fine one indeed, no one seemed to know cause or effect, good result from bad result, the origin of the situation nor its likely trajectory. In short it was chaos. All doors were open and there were no clues as to which to walk through.

It had been one thing to be let out of his cell, to have a break from the stale air, the boredom of having read all his books several times over, and the infinite white of the walls around him; enduring a little chat with Odin and Thor had been payment enough for the chance to stretch his legs. This was another thing altogether, they had brought him from his cell and placed him at the center of a calamity. He was in his ultimate element, a trickster set up to conduct this chorus of uncertainty. He basked in it, his steps lighter with every turn they made through the castle. It was water to a man dying of thirst, a ship on the horizon to a castaway. It was perfect.


	3. Chapter 2

As they entered the healing chamber, Loki's attention was captured immediately by the stately woman hovering over the patient on the plinth in the center of the room. His mother, in her finery, hadn't aged a day but there was worry on her face.

"Hello mother," he said gently.

She looked up, a smile transformed her face and she started forward but stopped as the guard announced Odin and he entered the room behind them.

"Loki, I haven't touched her, I thought it best just in case." She left the bedside and joined Thor while Loki approached the woman on the table, unmoving but for the slight rise and fall of her chest.

He had seen Jane Foster for only a few moments through the Destroyer’s eyes. Loki had figured that she must be very pretty or Thor's loyalty to her never would have held out so long. Selvig had mentioned her once or twice, merely saying she was a colleague. He'd seen a photograph of them together in Selvig's office but it only showed her in profile wearing a plaid shirt, jeans and those bulky laced shoes Midgardians seemed to favor. Now that he saw her in person, lying on the table with her brow furrowed slightly, things became clearer. Jane Foster looked more like a worried angel than a tomboy scientist. Her long hair fanned out around her face, her beauty not at all lessened by the eerie blue light of the healing chamber.

He leaned over the table, starting at her middle, and stretched out his hands willing his magic to work, it was difficult with the cuffs on, but the beginnings of trails of the spell or curse or whatever it was faintly revealed themselves. His magic felt fuzzy around the edges, like something was muffling him. Irritated, he straightened and turned to Odin. "There's definitely something here but I can't summon it forth with these shackles blocking me," he said.

Odin looked uneasy but motioned for a healer to remove them. "Finally, a little common sense," said Loki, shrugging and stretching a little. A faint golden light shone over him for a second, leaving him dressed much the same as he had been before, only his threadbare clothes were like new, his formerly sallow skin became a healthier pale and his filthy hair appeared washed and combed.

He returned to the table, and stretched his hands out over Jane again. This time the trails lit up like lightning in his mind's eye, as he passed them with a hand, disappearing just as quickly. They were electric purple and ran to the woman's extremities; he followed one from her waist to her knee where it curved back beneath her. One he picked up at her chest and followed up her neck to her temple. He followed it back down, lowering his hand closer to her. The trail seemed to get deeper as he neared her navel and dropped out of sight as he reached her waist. It was not a very powerful spell, but it reeked of sensuality and desperation, the nature of its binding was all too clear.

Finding a stool and setting it next to the table by Jane's side, Loki sat and took her arm in his hand, turning it over to see the soft underside, inspecting it for marks from a point of contact with the spell. She was the first warm, living thing he had touched in nearly a year. Frigga had come to visit him, but he could never so much as hold her hand, she had always vanished when he tried, the conditions of the cell forced it. It was an unexpected feeling, Jane Foster’s pulse under her skin, the warmth radiating from her. He didn’t expect to be affected by it, it made no sense that he should be; she was just a mortal, Thor's or not. He pushed the feelings aside, irritated with himself.

His touching her obviously affected Thor, however. Loki noticed the prince shift on his feet, stand taller, and his grip left the side of the table, it was headed toward Jane and suddenly, he had an idea.

"I wouldn't do that," said Loki, looking his brother straight in the eye. It was petty but satisfying. Let Thor suffer as he had, so close to someone he loved and yet unable to feel her beneath his fingers. "Mother was right, she shouldn't be touched by anyone but her healer, it may...” he paused to think of the right words, ones that wouldn’t reveal him. Finally, he decided on, “ _Confuse_ the spell and take longer to break it." He returned to his task, holding out Jane's wrist in one hand and letting his long fingers slowly glide up her arm with the other. Jane twitched and the occupants of the room gasped.

The looked on intently, watching the former prince. He was uncharacteristically quiet, which naturally worried Thor. "Well, what is it, brother? Can she be healed?" he asked, impatience clear in his voice. "Can you break this spell?"

Loki looked thoughtful. He was up to something, Thor knew it. Probably thinking of how to prolong his own freedom at Jane's cost. After some time, Loki said. "I don't know yet. I need a book, it is in the library in a little room off to one side. I don't remember which. Its door is by a little statue of a witch feeding a leviathan from a giant fork. I don't remember the title exactly, ' _Ancient spells of the Dvergar_ ' or something like that. It's green," he finished abruptly.

No one moved.

"Well? I thought you wanted your woman healed, Thor? Off you go," he said.

"Oh," said Thor, a bit dazed, "Of course, I shall return as fast as I can." He grabbed Mjolnir and dashed out of the chamber.

"Alright," said Loki, with the air of a person who didn't have much time. He stood and faced Odin and Frigga. "Jane Foster has somehow been cursed with a somnolent form of a love spell or more likely a lust spell." He turned to his wide eyed mother and continued. "The trails you saw were cords which seem to connect her erogenous zones to her Freyja's mound. I believe she could be paralyzed if the cords cannot be untangled and severed."

"And what does this have to do with the Dvergar," said Odin, still a little behind his scholarly, adopted son.

Loki made a sort of snorting, amused noise. "Nothing at all. I sent him away because her treatment is already decided. Thor isn't going to like it and I need the two of you to be on my side when he inevitably tries to pound me to death when he finds out what it is. There is only one cure and he must allow me administer it if he ever wishes for Jane Foster to wake or walk ever again." He was glaring at the two older gods trying quickly to emphasize his point.

Too soon, Thor returned, rushing into the room with a slight, harried looking young man wearing a long brown robe and spectacles, trailing behind him carrying half a dozen or so books in his arms.

"Ah, here he is now," said Loki, not bothering to hide his annoyance.

"I must protest My Prince, these books are most fragile!" said the young man who was mostly hidden behind Thor's bulk.

"It's alright, Frode. I shall vouch for their safety," said Loki.

"Oh, my Prince, I did not see you," said the man, coming around to the front of the slowly growing crowd in the healing chamber. “I brought some more likely books. I must say I thought you knew the collection like the back of your hand. There's no book like the one Master Thor described, um...what was it?"

" _Ancient spells of the Dvergar_ ," Thor supplied.

"Hmm, did I say Dvergar?" Loki said, affecting a distracted air, flipping through a small book from the top of the pile. "Never mind. In your absence I have been further assessing Jane Foster's condition."

"Yes, it's fascinating, Master Loki," joined in the scholar. "From what your brother said I thought of a curse mentioned in this chronical." He took up a red volume and opened it, moving to Loki's side. They stood like old colleagues hovering over it together.

"Yes, I think you're right, Frode." said Loki. He addressed the room, "It's like this curse but I think with some variation. Thor? If you would," he motioned for Thor to join him and Thor moved to stand on the other side of the table and they talked over Jane's unmoving form."Your little mortal has somehow come into contact with a cursed object of some sort, where I can't imagine. Midgard being such a dull place I assume it must have been something brought there by the imminent Convergence."

"Get to the point, Loki." said Thor gruffly. "What has it done to her?"

"It has put her to sleep and paralyzed her. When I search her for traces of magic, I see purple cords trailing all over her body like veins. Here, I can show you," he said, reaching for a writing implement from a nearby tray of vicious looking medical tools. He leaned over Jane and went to unbutton her shirt but before he could, Thor smacked his hand out of the way and grabbed at his collar from across the table.

"What are you doing?" he shouted. Frigga had rushed to Thor's side, putting a hand on his giant shoulder.

"Do you want my help or not?" Loki shot back. "I'll have to get a lot closer than that if she has a chance of surviving this mess!" Thor's brow furrowed, he relaxed his grip and finally let go of Loki, who shook himself, righting his shirt and clearing his head.

"What do you mean?" said Thor. "Give me that book," he snarled aside to Frode, who handed it to him, and was clearly about to say something. Thor started going through it. "This is gibberish, I can't read a word of this."

"I mean," continued Loki, ignoring this, "that the spell has put her into a coma. The cords are tangled up but they run from her erogenous zones to the focus of the spell, at her…" He was unsure what to call it exactly, he'd said it to Frigga and Odin without a problem. It wasn't like he was embarrassed about such things, but saying it to someone who might finish the job of wringing his neck seemed a bit dangerous. There was only so far one could push the God of Thunder. "Well, her... as it were," he said and gestured briefly, waiting for the fall out.

There was none. He had succeeded in stunning the bulky man into silence. Thor just stared at Jane's as-it-were with a blank expression.

"According to the text," Loki continued, "Which is in the language of a sect of light Elves, by the way, the cords, some of which I had intended to mark on her skin, can be untangled with stimulation and then severed at the point of orgasm. This has to be done one or two at a time and as each is broken, that limb will be released. Once all are severed, the curse will be broken. If it cannot be, she may remain paralyzed. The stimulation should also wake her, at least during the process."

It was a lot to take in, he knew. But after a full two minutes worth of silence, the buzz of the room was grating Loki's nerves. He took a breath to speak, but blessedly, Frigga interrupted. "My son, do you understand?" she asked, gently.

Thor was quiet a moment longer, looking forlornly at Jane. Finally he spoke, it was almost a growl. "What _exactly_ do you mean, stimulation?"

"I think he means what you think he means, my son," Frigga intervened again.

"And you will be the one to provide this stimulation?" Yes, Loki thought, it was decidedly a growl this time. Thor was fuming now and clutching his hammer with white knuckles. His angry face skipped between the inhabitants of the room, glaring at all of them, Odin last.

"It is settled then,” said Odin who had been watching the proceedings from slightly behind the others with a somewhat queasy expression on his face. "Your brother has been tasked with the healing of this mortal. He is equipped to break the curse. And you have responsibilities elsewhere."

"Father!" protested Thor.

"I will have no arguments! The girl is in Loki’s charge now. He will be responsible for waking her." Odin turned to the healers. “Prepare Jane Foster to be moved to Loki’s chambers in the Hall of the Heirs,” he ordered. “Thor, you will prepare to return to Vanaheim immediately!” With that he stormed out, leaving before any more argument could be made.

"I think I shall go with your father," said Frigga, tactfully. "That is, if the two of you promise not to come to blows?" She quirked an eyebrow and smiled at them, then followed Odin.

Loki squared off against Thor across Jane's prostrate form, an expectant expression on his face. Thor looked as if he wished to strike his brother with all the lightning Mjolnir could channel but he reined it in surprisingly well. His jaw was clenched tightly as he came toward Jane for one last tender look and then stormed out without meeting Loki’s eye.

"And I'll just be on my way," added Frode, who was gathering his books as quickly and franticly as possible, but Loki stopped him. “I’m afraid I still need you, Frode. Someone has to help prove all this to Jane Foster.” The scholar’s brows nearly reached his hairline, but he stayed as the preparations were made. The chief healer, Eir was enlisted to come along too, and a strange combination of healer, scholar, prince, heavily armed guards and some orderlies who guided a floating stretcher which carried the still body of Jane Foster, all headed for Loki’s former chambers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A few notes:  
> Frode is a Danish and Norwegian adaptation of the Old Norse word for learned or wise. I'm pronouncing it 'fro - duh' in my head but that may not be right.
> 
> Also, I hope the explanation makes sense, it’s clearly ridiculous, but I tried to make it as realistic as any erotic fantasy can be. In my head, the Asgardians aren't very embarrassed by sex, which Loki will explain to Jane later.
> 
> The first 'dose' is in the next chapter which I aim to have up within the week.


	4. Chapter 3

Guards rushed before them, clearing the path for the strange troop. When they reached the wing of the castle where the two princes’ chambers lay, Loki saw Odin, striding off, not bothering to look at them. Why became clear only a moment later; evidence of a very strong enchantment lingered on Loki’s chamber doors. The interlocking snakes and beasts that adorned it were still untangling themselves as the procession neared.

As the high, imposing doors opened and they filed inside, servants rushed about, lighting torches and removing white drapes which covered most of the furniture. As the healer and the orderlies placed Jane on the bed, Loki tried not to look too curious about the state of his rooms. He had many things in here that he hadn’t wanted disturbed, and while he had some enchantments laid down to protect them before leaving Asgard, he hadn’t planned on being away for so long. He wondered, now desperate to assure himself, if things were as he had left them.

The orderlies withdrew and the guards took up places outside the door, closing it firmly. Eir’s voice brought him back to the task at hand. “My prince, I don’t mean to,” she paused as if trying to find the right words, “Offend your grace. But…” The woman was looking very awkward indeed. He decided to take pity on her.

“Speak freely, Eir. I will not take offence,” he said, as kindly as he could. Truly it was more a matter of keeping the amusement out of his voice than anything.

“Well then, frankly I think it would be best if Jane Foster were unable to see you,” she said, her courage having quite recovered. “At least at first,” she finished.

He arched a brow and laughed. No wonder she had been so worried. “I understand,” he said. “Very reasonable. In fact, I agree. Let’s give the doctor one shock at a time.” He came closer to the bed and conjured a small chair, placing it at Jane’s feet. “Shall we?” he asked. The healer and scholar gave rueful smiles and took up positions at the head of the bed, purposefully hiding Loki from Jane’s eye line. They stood silently by as the tension in the room escalated.

“Lips first, I think,” said Eir. “We need to be able to talk to her.”

Loki nodded and shifted his gaze from them to Jane Foster's short but nonetheless quite lovely legs. Her feet were encased in grey suede ankle-height boots. With a sigh, and a bemused smile at the insanity of the situation, he set to work, easing the zip down one boot. When he had it off, he tossed it aside and started rubbing small circles over her ankle with two fingers, cradling her lower calf in one hand. The black stockings felt like silk against his skin. It didn't take long for Jane to respond, her body shifting, as if she was trying to get comfortable. The reaction must have been involuntary since the curse allowed her no control over most of her muscles. Still caressing her lower leg he now turned to watch the healer and Frode.

 

Jane Foster slowly came to consciousness. She felt as though she was surrounded by an electric purple fog. There was no ground beneath her feet, no sky above her head. There was someone talking but it just sounded like the teachers on Charlie Brown, but a little more muffled. There was something soft supporting her body. And there was a warm, wonderful sensation making its way up her right leg. She focused on it as the most real thing around her.

A cool hand lifted one of her eyelids. “Jane Foster?” said a woman who was doing the lifting. She waited for recognition to register before continuing, “You have been brought to Asgard. You are under the influence of an ancient curse.” Jane blinked several times in shock. _Asgard_?! she thought. Her chest was rising and falling more rapidly now and the healer looked back at someone who was running a warm hand up and down the back of her knee. It was difficult to see through the purple fog which was for now confining itself to her peripheral vision, but there was also a man standing at the woman’s side. He looked sympathetic and encouraging.

“Jane?” he said, gently. “I am Frode, a scholar to the Aesir. And this is Eir, chief healer of Asgard. We are here to help you.” She tried to open her mouth to respond, to ask what the hell was going on, but found that she couldn’t.

“It is alright, Doctor Foster,” said the healer. “Do not try to speak. You do not yet have control of your lips."

Jane’s eyes went wide in surprise.

“Do not tax yourself, Jane,” said the man, “You are under a curse, contracted when you fell into another realm. Blink if you understand."

She blinked. She didn’t really understand, but it seemed like the best way to get them to carry on explaining. She tried to turn her head, to see who was behind them, who was responsible for the delicious sensations; there were two hot hands now, slowly running up and down over the surface of her cool tights. Of course, her head would not obey, just as her lips had not.

“The curse has entangled itself all over your body,” the healer continued. “But we have discovered the cure. You need not be afraid. The prince is a master of magic and he will be breaking the curse. It will take quite some time, several days at least, perhaps a fortnight.” _The prince,_ Jane thought, _is Thor behind them, is he the one doing that?_ But Eir was still speaking, saying it wasn’t exactly a medical matter and something about orgasms. Jane thought she couldn’t possibly have heard that right, the haze in her head was making it difficult to concentrate and with no way of interrupting, she just waited for something to make sense. It sounded like the curse had to be broken in many places one by one.

Finally, Eir and Frode moved and Jane saw who it was behind them. He was concentrated on her skirt, unbuttoning it at the side to loosen it. All she saw was the top of a dark head and long hair obstructing his face. “Jane, this is the prince, Loki,” said Eir. “He is the only one able to break the curse.”

_Loki? Thor’s homicidally insane brother? No way!_ But apparently it was Loki. He raised his head and she recognized him from the news footage immediately. He was watching her with a curiously detached expression on his face. She knew she probably looked terrified, even if her features were mostly stock still.

“Now, Doctor Foster,” said Eir, with a note of finality, “The prince will administer the first ‘dose,’ if you will. He will remove the curse from your lips so that we can speak freely. Afterward, we do not know how long you will remain awake, so I would like to ask you now if you would prefer that a healer be present at these sessions in the future? Blink once for yes, twice for no.”

She blinked twice. It was bad enough that she had to let Thor’s evil little brother see her at her most vulnerable, anyone else and she would die of embarrassment, never mind the alien curse. Then it occurred to her that it might be worse to be alone and completely at the mercy of Thor’s evil little brother. Her eyes widened, alarmed. She wanted to scream, _where is Thor?_ But she couldn’t, Loki had paused his movements momentarily and the fog was closing in and she knew she had little time. She begged with her eyes and somehow, blessedly, the healer seemed to get the message.

“Relax now, Doctor Foster, and allow the prince to do his work. Next time you wake I will be here to answer questions and Prince Thor will be here to see you,” said Eir.

The words barely registered though, Loki had upped the stakes and it was distracting her. He had worked his hands up under her skirt and was pulling her tights down her legs slowly, warm hands splayed on the sides of her thighs as he did so.

The scholar made himself scarce and Jane could see the healer drawing back slightly but staying within range if her help was needed. The fog in Jane’s eyes seemed to be clearing; she could see a wider range now but could not turn her head. As Loki started to bunch up her gray skirt so he could spread her legs slightly, suddenly Jane realized, maybe the healer actually _had_ said orgasms.

She was breathing heavily now, especially since Loki was slowly dragging her underwear down and off, his eyes not leaving hers, but now he wore the tiniest hint of a smile. He came a few paces closer, and leaned down over her, filling her frame of vision. His eyes were focused in on her lips, and she watched as he brought one finger to his mouth, licking it briefly before slowly beginning to trace her lower lip. She could feel the almost imperceptible pressure and wetness there and gasped. He smiled. It was a devilish look and a little frightening, truth be told.

She felt the shift when Loki sat on the edge of the bed. Looming over her, he seemed huge. Not the size of Thor, but certainly bigger than she had expected. He had looked slightly scrawny on the news, up close there was nothing scrawny about him at all. As he returned one hand under her skirt he wasted no time, beginning by teasing her folds. He brought a finger back to her lips, soothing over them like the petals of a flower. Between her legs, he reached a sweet spot above her entrance and she gasped again, feeling her muscles shudder. She could feel her face redden when he cradled her jaw and opened her mouth by placing the lightest pressure on her chin with his thumb. Never stopping his teasing between her legs, he leaned down close to her face.

She could feel his hot breath and for a panicked split second, Jane thought he meant to kiss her, and closed her eyes. But he didn’t, not exactly. Instead, he used his tongue on her parted lips, mimicking his earlier tracing. His fingers down below had found her clit now and he began gently worrying it with a blunt fingernail. It was exquisite but almost painful in intensity, and she felt the involuntary movement of her legs; it was like the efficient satisfaction of a vibrator. Her lips began to buzz, like that time Darcy had insisted she try her Sephora venom plumper. She kept her eyes screwed shut as Loki nipped at her bottom lip with his teeth, his fingers below sending her over the edge with their relentless ministrations. It was too fast, like she’d skipped the climb to the top of the roller coaster and just been dropped from a height. She heard Loki murmur some strange words and felt him lick her lips again. She cried out as the buzzing in her lips reached its peak, shocking herself when she realized that the sound was real, not just in her mind.

As the wave of pleasure receded, and Loki’s hands left her, she opened her eyes slowly. Everything was crystal clear. She was in a chamber furnished with green and gold flourishes. The bed she was on had a green duvet folded at its foot and she lay on soft golden sheets. There were three people staring at her.

The healer approached and both she and Loki watched Jane intently as the fog in her eyes got thicker by the second and she fought to keep her eyes open as long as possible before her vision turned completely purple again and she lost consciousness.


	5. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone! Thanks for all the nice comments, they keep me motivated and inspired!

“Well, that was certainly interesting, but I still want to know if it worked,” said Eir, practically.

“It worked, I felt the snap of the cord,” said Loki as he finished smoothing down Jane’s skirt. “It isn’t a particularly powerful spell, just pervasive.” Eir looked as though that didn’t comfort her much.

“I suppose she didn’t really have time to say anything,” Frode admitted somewhat timidly from behind the others.

“If you’ll not be needing me, I think I shall take my leave.”

Loki turned to him.“Yes, I think you can probably go now,” he said, not unkindly, walking Frode out of the bedroom, and through the sitting area to the double doors of his chambers. “Can you get a message to Thor about speaking with his mortal?”

Frode nodded and asked, “Anything for you, Master Loki?”

Loki thought for a moment. It seemed he hadn’t alienated everyone in Asgard. “If you would be so kind, I have a feeling I shall be in this room for quite some time and I wouldn’t mind having a few new books to read.” he said, gratefully.

“Of course, your grace,” said Frode, bowing and exiting quickly.

There were two guards standing sentry outside his chamber doors. Loki studied them for a moment before shutting the door. They were typical specimens, big, blond and heavily armed, as if that would have made much of a difference in a fight with him now that his magic was unbound. He turned to the rest of the room, taking the opportunity to examine his belongings more closely. Wandering slowly, he looked for signs but there seemed to have been no tampering. A few of his books were missing but he knew they were the ones still down in his cell.

The living quarters led out onto a balcony but when Loki tried the doors he found them locked by magic. He sauntered back into the bedroom leaning back on one of the pilasters of the open archway that led from the sitting area, it was cool and he could feel its relief carving on his back.

Eir was still there, hovering over Jane, taking vital signs and examining her body. He watched for a moment. He had known the healer most of his life. Thor and he had come under her care many times in the last thousand years after scrapes on the training grounds and with more serious wounds in the aftermath of battles. She was good at what she did, but truthfully, he didn’t see the need for her presence anymore, and he thought she might be beginning to agree. Now that things had been explained, it was only a matter of carrying out Jane’s ‘treatment.’

And what a fascinating irony it was. The curse itself was fairly basic, probably invented by some sexually frustrated, pimply faced young warlock with his sites on a girl far above his deserving. He’d probably cast it thinking he could get her to fall for him, or marry him out of the shame of otherwise being disgraced. It was pathetic, a cheap ruse. Perhaps he had cast it on some token or object that Jane had found in some other realm she visited through a thin spot in her realm’s borders, picking it up out of curiosity. But the fact that it was Thor’s lover on the bed was delicious and, he had to admit, so were her reactions to his touch. It had been a fairly clinical application as far as he was concerned. He had gone straight for the most sensitive spot and went about it quickly, trying to get it over with as fast as possible.

Not that he wasn’t curious as to what Jane was like in bed, but until she had the power to speak and react and join in there wasn’t really any sport or challenge in it. Her cry had been sweet, innocent, almost embarrassed. He wondered briefly if she had been so coy with Thor or any previous lovers. He had spent enough time on Midgard to know that sexual mores had changed and that many women now felt free to regularly take men into their beds before marriage. Was Jane Foster such a woman?

He watched Eir finish making her inspection and sink into a chair by the bed. They stayed like that for some time before Loki began to hear arguing out in the hall. The muffled sounds reached a peak and the door was violently swung open to reveal Thor in full battle armor and cape bearing down on him.

“Loki! Why are you not doing anything?” he said by way of a greeting.

“I’m letting her recover. It’s only polite,” Loki replied.

“If you have touched her-” Thor started.

“Of course I’ve touched her. Do you think I have some sort of magic orgasm wand?” he snapped. But then made a pointing gesture with one long finger and said, “Then again…”

“You are infuriating!” said Thor, smacking Loki’s hand out of the way. “I meant to say if you have harmed her and if you ever harm her, I will kill you,” he threatened gruffly. The pain in Loki’s hand made him absolutely positive Thor meant it.

“Oddly enough I had realized that,” he said, sarcastically. Was his brother really so doubtful? Had Loki really strayed so far? “Thor, I have no intention of harming this woman,” he said. Thor looked skeptical. “If nothing else, believe me that I understand doing so would mean a one way trip to Hel or back to that cell, whichever is worse,” he groused. After a moment Thor nodded. “Now, shall I get on with it?” Loki asked.

Eir joined them when Thor put down Mjolnir and it became clear no one was going to get killed. “I have been prioritizing,” she said in her usual, clipped way. “I think it best to start by getting her as functional as possible. I say you start with her arms, my prince.”

“Eminently practical,” said Loki, sidestepping Thor and making his way to Jane’s prone form. As Thor took his place at Jane’s other side, Loki was using his magic to trace the purple lines and found they led to the soft skin inside Jane’s wrists and up her arm to the inside of her elbow. “Any advice?” Loki smirked, turning to look at his brother for a moment. But seeing the stormy look forming in Thor's eyes, he quickly held his hands up, saying, "Only joking."

Loki took a long look at Thor, said a mental goodbye to his own limbs just in case, and went to work. He lifted Jane’s wrist and began slowly stroking it, making circles of cool pressure with his thumb. He raked gently with the pads of three fingers up her arm to the blue veins running through the pale skin at her inner elbow. Jane gave a low moan and Thor was immediately hovering over her face.

"Jane, it is I," said Thor. "I feared so much for your life!” While Thor was occupied, Loki took the opportunity to place a hand on Jane’s thigh and mimic his earlier motions there.

"Thor?" said Jane, her voice soft, muddled. “What happened?” she murmured opening her eyes, Thor was surprised to see the purple mist was mostly gone from them. He smiled down at her while Loki rolled his eyes, continuing his motions beneath Jane’s skirt.

“Oh, sweet Jane,” Thor was saying, “can you see me?”

“Yes, you’re a little hazy,” she said, taking shallow breaths. “Hold my hand,” she pleaded.

“I cannot, Jane,” said Thor forlornly. _So he’s swallowed the hook,_ thought Loki, wondering if he should feel at all guilty about it. He didn’t so far, and logically, as much he would enjoy seeing the look on Thor’s face as his frost giant foster brother got his Midgardian woman off, even he had to admit it would be easier for everyone if Thor wasn’t around for the rest of Jane’s ‘doses.’

“My brother is going to help you, Jane,” Thor was saying. “He has found the curse and its source. I’m afraid he will have to-"

"I know," she cut him off, sounding exhausted. “It’s okay. It has to be done. I understand,” she said, her face reddening.

“But do you understand, what I said earlier, doctor Foster?” said Eir, cutting in from her place at Thor’s side.

“Yeah, I think I got it,” she said, firmly. It was like being Petrified in _Harry Potter_ , she thought in a daze, only the counter-spell was an orgasm, apparently. “I mean, not at first, but I think I figured it out,” she clarified, trying to steady her breathing. She looked for a brief second at Loki, her very own Snape to brew up the potion. She could feel the heat in her cheeks rising with every second. His hand was hidden beneath her skirt and it was doing wonderful things there and he certainly didn’t look like Snape.

“Jane,” said Thor, drawing her attention back to him, “My Father is sending me back to Vanaheim. There is a war there and I must help the people,” he said. “I am afraid I cannot be here with you.”

“That’s okay,” she said, “I understand.” She was nearly panting now and Thor looked down the bed at Loki to see what was happening. It was probably a good thing he couldn’t see beneath Jane’s skirt because the sight of his brother laying open mouthed kisses on Jane’s inner arm alone was nearly enough to make him want to break something planet-sized. But Jane was speaking again. He wrenched his eyes back to see her pleading with him, “I’m sorry,” she said, breathless.

“No, it is not your fault, Jane!” he said, making to take her other arm but remembering not to at the last minute and clenching his fist. Jane’s eyes were screwed shut now and Eir took charge, leading Thor back from the bed several paces as Loki finished his work. They watched as Jane thrashed on the bed and Loki whispered something to her wrist and again to the crook of her arm. After a few moments waiting for her breath to slow, Jane’s eyes opened.

She turned them on Loki and watched as he turned her wrist lightly and kissed the back of her hand in a mockery of a polite greeting, then met her gaze with a lascivious smile. She did what came naturally, now that she had control of her arm back. After all, he had put himself in such easy reach. The sound of the smack she lay on his cheek echoed in the room, and Thor made an “oooooo” sound, and scrunched up his face. “That was for New York” she snapped, before promptly passing out.

"What happened?” Thor asked, coming over and looking at Loki who was making a show of wiping his hands on the golden sheets.

"That _is_ what happens,” he explained. “It's just as I expected. She will be awake for longer periods with each cord I sever. And regain use of her muscles,” he added, rubbing his jaw.

“She was awake before, I mean afterward, the first time?” he asked, awkwardly.

“Only for about a second,” said Loki, dismissively.

Thor stood for a moment, looking sadly down at Jane. Loki felt for him if only for a moment. It must be difficult knowing there was nothing he could do, especially given how dismissive Thor had always been of Loki’s interest in magic. In a way it served him right, he thought.

"I leave for Vanaheim tonight,” he said finally. “When I return I will have words with you, Loki. If you have harmed Jane in any way-”

"I assure you, I will be treating Jane Foster with the greatest of consideration,” Loki cut him off.

“Very well,” said Thor, dispirited. “I take my leave of you, brother, Lady Eir.” With that, he picked up his hammer and practically slunk out of the room.

After a moment, Eir said, “I suppose that could have gone worse.”

Loki just nodded in agreement, his eyes lingering on Jane. As Eir gathered her detection devices, Loki sat pondering Jane Foster. Now that they could be said to have been properly introduced, he thought perhaps he’d revise his opinion. She was a contradictory little thing, at once so conciliatory, so accommodating and understanding to Thor and then so feisty when she’d slapped his face. Of course, he’d suffered worse reactions to the things he’d done, but not by so ill matched an opponent, it amused him.

Eir was ready to go now, and said, “There is nothing more I can do for her. The curse seems to be holding her in a sort of stasis but can I assume you will take care of any of her needs, magically?”

“Yes, of course,” said Loki distractedly. He waved a palm in Jane’s direction, sending a spell to clean her up.

“I will come to check on her every so often,” said Eir, nodding. “I will say good day then, my prince.”

He nodded in return and she left him, sitting there still wondering about the woman in his bed.


	6. Chapter 5

The next morning, Loki sat at on the sofa drinking light ale pondering the remains of his solitary breakfast. In truth, he had become used to eating alone, having been in his cell for nearly a year. His expectations upon release hadn’t been high, though he had thought perhaps Frigga would come to see him but Odin had probably forbidden it. The sharing of meals was something symbolic and almost sacred among the Aesir, it meant hospitality and amity, something only to be done among friends, not enemies, which, with a guard posted outside his door at all times, was certainly what he felt like.

He wondered which Jane was. As soon as she was awake long enough to eat and able to feed herself, it was unlikely the king of Asgard would allow the Midgardian out to dine among the palace denizens. Would she sit here with him? Did he want her to? What sort of company would Jane Foster be anyway? He knew she was a scientist but nothing in her admittedly limited discussion had shown a keen intellect. Perhaps he was being a bit unfair however, she was not exactly at her best right now.

After Eir had left the previous evening, Loki had waited about an hour before setting to work again, freeing Jane’s other arm and wrist. There had been no slapping this time. He had merely sat regarding her as she lay there staring at the opposite wall for the few minutes she remained awake. Afterward, it had occurred to him how untidy she looked with that heavy woolen skirt rucked up around her hips, a sheen of sweat on her thighs. He had cleaned her up and removed it by magic, not wanting to wake her with his touch. The shirt she was wearing, dark blue silk, followed; he couldn’t help smiling at the pattern of snowflakes that adorned it. A matching blue Midgardian support garment lay beneath the shirt, it looked very uncomfortable; he covered her with the golden bed sheet before magicking the garment off.

Afterward, he had flopped onto the sofa in the living area and stared at the arched ceiling for some time. It wasn’t as if he didn’t enjoy the idea of having a beautiful woman in his bed. But she wasn’t really there, not of her own free will. It seemed like cheating, but not in the good way he was accustomed to. As little as he regarded the so-called rules, he did enjoy the sport of seducing a woman, though he didn’t bring them here when he had done so in the past. He wondered about Jane Foster. As Thor’s woman, would he ever have had the chance to attempt it on equal footing, or as equal as it could be, he being a god and she being mortal? He remembered suddenly how he had threatened Jane on the Bifrost just before Thor had destroyed it. Perhaps that was why Thor had looked so worried earlier. Had he taken that threat seriously? Loki had really only said it trying to get a rise out of Thor, to distract him long enough that the Bifrost could do its work on Jotunheim. This line of thinking wasn’t getting him anywhere and he wandered the rooms again, inspecting, trying to put Jane and Thor both out of his mind. 

By the time he had had a small, basic supper, which had been brought in by a nervous looking servant, Loki was feeling drained from using so much magic after such a long time without using any. Since Jane had been in his bed, he had spent the night on the sofa, which wasn’t so bad, being larger than the bed in his cell anyway, and softer by far. He’d been allowed the princely privilege of having some of his own furniture brought to his cell, but there had been limits. One had been the food and drink, which were by far improved on with this breakfast. He’d eaten the fresh fruit greedily and savored the newly baked bread.

Not long after, there was a knock at the door and when he answered it, he was surprised to find his mother on the other side. She was not permitted by the guards to enter, but had brought a bag of Jane’s belongings that she explained had been retrieved from someone named Darcy, apparently a friend of Jane’s whom Loki had never heard of. Frigga had clasped his hand as she handed it over and smiled kindly at him and wished him luck. He had thanked her with mere politeness, very conscious of the guards still standing between them.

 

When she had gone, Loki had given in to curiosity and gone through the bag at once. It contained some Midgardian clothes, more like the flannels and jeans he had seen in Selvig’s photograph, some fairly boring undergarments, and a pair of those horrible laced shoes. There were some books which looked vaguely scientific, one by a Neil Degrasse Tyson and a few novels by Arthur C Clark and Terry Pratchett, whoever they were. There was also a note taped to the front of a mechanical tablet-like device from Darcy. It suggested the books had been on Jane’s nightstand, the tablet was ‘charged’ and that maybe when it ‘died’ Thor could help her out by ‘zapping’ it lightly. It also stated that she knew Jane probably wouldn’t bother, but she’d included some ‘lip gloss’ and ‘nail polish’ ‘for Thor’s benefit’. All in all it was a baffling note referencing people, places and things Loki had no idea about. He set it all aside and went into the bedroom.

He considered Jane. She was lying there looking pale and comatose; now seemed as good a time as any. It was midmorning and she wasn't exactly going to sit up and ask him to free her, not at this point anyway. He considered the next move. It would be useful to her to be able to move her head. He held a hand over her neck and reached out with his magic. Cords ran to her shoulders, the nape of her neck and to her clavicles.

The access would be tricky. Perhaps if she were sitting upright, maybe on his lap, he thought. He tried to suppress a little arousal at the idea, but it was useless. He had always loved that juncture between shoulders and neck, that place on a woman's body where the structure of bones was so visible and the skin was so delicate and thin, the reactions tended to be so immediate.

He gently lifted Jane, sheet and all, and settled himself behind her on the pillows with a leg on either side of her hips. He rested her back against him, her head falling limply back onto his upper chest. She was such a small woman. It occurred to him he could practically wrap himself around her frame and engross her entirely. She was warm from sleep and was starting to make soft noises as their contact heightened.

Steadying her head against his jaw and wrapping an arm around her, he lowered the sheet, exposing her pale breasts. They were already pebbled in the cool air of his bedroom and he squeezed one nipple lightly between two fingers. Jane’s body shivered and she was awake in moments.

“Good morning, Jane Foster,” he said low into her ear, amused at her quick reaction.

 

Jane gasped, she could feel a warm presence at her back, surrounding her, there was a tightness at her breast, not unpleasant by a longshot. Loki. It could only be him. There was no one else to be seen in the stately room and she’d heard him say something. She didn’t know what to say back, so she just asked, “Um…what are you doing?” It came out a little timid and she was annoyed with herself.

“What does it feel like I’m doing?” he asked, continuing his fondling. She inwardly cursed his bedroom voice as she started to feel her pulse in a very intimate place. It was all coming back now as the purple fog lifted and she finally decided that none of this was just a bad dream.

“It feels like you’re playing- ah- doctor,” she had cried out when he pinched her nipple harder. He laughed lightly and she felt his feet hooking themselves around her calves, pulling them slightly apart. She really felt the loss of pressure where her thighs had been pushed together, but not for long. Loki lifted her by the hips, placing her up higher, on his lap now. Her head tilted back onto his shoulder and she could see the side of his face, smell his rich, leathery scent. She just knew he was smiling that lascivious smile again.

“Perhaps you’re right. I think I’m getting good at it,” he said, as if considering. He moved one hand between her legs and began to soothe her folds which were already becoming obscenely wet. Surrounded by him, she’d never felt more naked and vulnerable. She could tell Loki was still fully clothed but through the fabric of his trousers she could feel his hardness under her. He moved his other hand from her breast and began to run it over her clavicles as he bent his head to kiss her neck. It felt amazing and she couldn’t help but moan. She grabbed the pillows behind them in tight fists but the movement caused her to feel his shoulders wrapped around her and she muttered, “oh god,” hoping he wouldn’t think the contact was intentional.

"Do you begin to like me, Jane?" he teased as he moved two wet fingers into her passage and stroked its front wall. She gasped again and he removed them just as quickly, making her whine.

 _Where did that come from?_ she thought. "You've done terrible things. I don't even _want_ to like you,” she said and continued, breathless but firmly, “And I could never trust you."

"All the same,” he said, nuzzling his way up her neck to just under her ear, “Trust me to see to your pleasure." With that he returned his fingers to her clit, making firm, faster strokes there. His other hand moved to support her throat and he bent her forward, mouthing the nape of her neck and shoulders. The pressure on her clit changed from her body being folded in on itself. She knew she was close and braced herself with her hands, pushing deep into the pillows. She could feel Loki’s hot breath on her neck and heard him emit something like a growl and grind himself against her bottom. It was an extremely erotic sound, combined with the sensation, it pushed her over the top and she spasmed around his fingers, buried between her legs. As she rode out the climax moaning softly, she felt his forehead resting just below the nape of her neck and heard him whispering again. She felt a strange tension leave her neck and shoulders, like a knot was being worked out. When she lifted her head by herself, Loki was already extricating himself from her, letting her back rest on the pillows at the head of the bed and moving to stand by the side of it, facing away from her.

He didn’t say anything but seemed to be waiting for something. She knew she didn’t have much time left, so she quickly said a soft “Thank you.” At that he turned, a curious expression on his face and gave a sort of snort of amusement. She resolutely refused to look at him, not wanting to see any effect their closeness might have had on him. “Um…Can you move me downward?” she asked, hesitantly. “I don’t want to fall asleep sitting half way up, but I haven't really got the strength to move my legs enough to scooch down the bed.” She could hear the wheels turning in his head over the word ‘scooch,’ and instantly felt embarrassed. Several advanced degrees and she still never seemed to talk like a grown-up. “I mean-”

He cut her off with a gesture. “I know what you meant,” he said abruptly, coming around to the end of the bed. He leaned over her, grabbing her at the knees and pulling her toward him roughly. She gasped, the action had sent a shock straight up her thigh to her clitoris, which she could feel pulsing again. The look in his eyes was hungry, but it didn’t last long, he straightened and said, “I have to go.”

He didn’t even wait for her to respond, just stalked off to the room beyond the archway. _Okay…_ Jane thought, _that happened_. She didn’t have long to wonder about it however. The brief stimulation from his hands on her knees had kept her awake a little longer than she usually managed, but it was gone now and the oppressive purple cloud crept into her vision and she slept again.

\---

Moments later, Loki was kneeling at his balcony doors, fumbling with the magical locks irritably. He was trying to get outside for some air and Odin’s power was thwarting him again. Jane’s little moans and sighs were still ringing in his ears and the look on her face as he had grabbed at the backs of her knees had acted like an emissary to his already interested groin. He sent an annoyed shock of magic at the lock, cracking it at last, and stalked outside, slamming the doors behind him.

The fresh air revived him instantly. This was the first time he had been outside since being imprisoned, if one didn’t count a few moments between palace towers on his walk from the dungeons. It was early spring as far as he could tell but still quite cool, there were small bright green shoots beginning to bud out in the formal garden below his balcony.

He was annoyed with himself. His body had betrayed him and he could only hope Jane hadn’t noticed. It wasn’t likely that she had, he’d done his best to overwhelm her with pleasure, trying to move her quickly from arousal to climax. Then again, why shouldn’t she notice? Why shouldn’t he want her to? He was a sexual being like anyone else, not a healer, detachedly performing a medical procedure. What difference did it make if she had seen or felt his reaction? Was he worried she would be disgusted and not find him as attractive as he found her? What a foolish, adolescent thought. So why was he angry with himself? Perhaps it was the prospect that she might tell Thor, who would look upon him with disgust for it. This irked him even more, the idea that he might still care about Thor’s opinion after all that had happened between them. He pounded a fist on the balustrade and stood breathing the cool air, trying not to think about Jane and Thor at all. It was extremely difficult with one looming like a shadow over his shoulder and the other quite solid and in his bed.


	7. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks so much again for all the nice comments!

It was only midday when Loki came in from the balcony, having attempted to meditate the confusion out of himself. He had largely been unsuccessful however, his thoughts still dominated by Jane’s physical responses. When he had been in the healing chamber, explaining it all to Eir, Odin and the others, it had seemed so easy to think of it like any other spell. Even the first few times, when Eir or Thor had been in the room, he had been able to maintain a sense of distance from what he was doing. But now that it was just Jane and him, alone in his bedroom, the situation seemed quite different.

Jane was proving to be much more interesting than he could have hoped given that his brother’s taste had never run to complex, intellectual women. Her willingness to challenge him, even knowing exactly who he was and what he’d done was intriguing and for some reason, her reticence made him want to show her exactly what he was capable of. She was always looking away from him as she came and Loki found himself wanting to her to look at him when he touched her. Would she realize that he wanted to see her in ecstasy again? It might reveal him to her but he couldn’t bring himself to care. Let her know he desired her, it would only make the process more enjoyable, and if, in the end, that meant it was more painful for Thor, Jane, or even for himself, wouldn’t it all be worth it for the pleasure and the chaos it caused?

There was a knock on the door that drew him out of his thoughts. It was Eir, who made her inspection of Jane, asked a few questions about her progress and then left all in about five minutes. She certainly was efficient, he had to give her that.

He had followed Eir into the bedroom and figured it was time again. He knew it took men longer to recover between orgasms than women but it seemed only right to give Jane a little time between her ‘doses.’ There was no telling what her body was going through with the spell attaching itself to her in such a pervasive way, after all. He wondered for a moment what Jane was experiencing inside her head. Was it a deep sleep, devoid of worry or did she dream and of what? He found himself curious and hoping that she would soon be awake long enough to answer some questions he was forming, and not just about the spell. Perhaps if he woke her with stimulation above the waist, they would have a little more time to talk. He had a theory to test and wasn’t sure how to bring it up, involving the intensity of her ‘doses.’

Rubbing his cool hands together to warm them, he sat on the side of the bed and put an experimental few fingers on Jane’s neck just below her ear. He began rubbing her jaw with his thumb as slowly as he could bear. His other hand trailed up and down her arm. Jane came to slowly, moving her face into his warm touch.

 

When she opened her eyes, Jane found Loki sitting on the bed near her. “Hi,” she said, awkwardly.

“And hello to you, Jane Foster,” he replied, gazing down at her and continuing his motions.

“So…what’s on the menu for today?” she asked, embarrassed still but figuring it was better to take the bull by the horns.

Loki smirked but then tried to hide it by looking down her body. “The goal is to get you up and about,” he said.

“Okay… Actually, I was wondering, do _you_ have to …you-know? Or can’t I just …um…under the sheet of course...you-know myself?” she asked.

“What an adorable euphemism,” he laughed, gently. “But you need to relax and let the sensations last as long as possible. Surely you see it's more practical if I… _'know you_ '?" he asked, making a sweeping gesture and grinning evilly.

"Wow,” said Jane, her cheeks reddening. She told herself it was because his hands were so warm. “I bet that's the nicest thing you've ever called it."

"You don't like talking about sex, do you?" he asked, curiosity genuine.

"I'm not a prude, I just…” She began, looking away from him.

“Good, then perhaps you’ll allow me to try something different?” he asked with a bright smile.

“Um… okay?” she said, looking him up and down for clues.

His hands left her briefly only to grab her by the hips. He swung her body around so that she was laying across the bed and pulled her by the backs of her sensitive knees mostly off it.

“Whoa,” she protested, breath quickening. “What are you doing?”

“Don’t worry, I daresay you’ll enjoy it,” he assured her, confidently. He’d pulled the sheets along with her but now he grabbed the bottom hem and threw it off her lower half, leaving her clenching the top around her breasts. Her breathing was now shallow and as he spread her legs, she knew she was already getting wet in anticipation. She made a noise of hesitation that made him laugh again. He knelt down between her legs and said, “You did ask what was on the _menu,_ Jane.”

As she gasped at the obscene implication, he wasted no time. His lips were on her, exploring her in a targeted assault. She’d had this done to her before, but never by someone so enthusiastic. She felt heat begin to build in her whole body and she clutched at the bedsheets. When her whimpers of desperation reached Loki’s ears he hummed in response, causing her to feel a delicious vibration from her clit that fanned out into the rest of her. He was holding her thighs over his shoulders, squeezing and running his hands along them, she could feel his soft hair tickling skin her along their insides. She turned her head this way and that trying to get some air, a ringing in her ears. He lightly added his teeth into the mix running them ever so gently over the very nub of her pleasure and soon it was all over. She threw her head back, arching her neck as much as possible with the paralyzed muscles anchoring her back. She was out of breath but raised her head to give him an almost-smile when he raised his face to meet her eyes from his position kneeling on the floor between her sprawled legs. She could feel the spell dissipating from her inner thighs.

“You’re welcome,” he said in an impossibly sexy, almost purring voice. Then he had to go and ruin their uneasy entente by saying, “I don't suppose you're grateful enough for a little… what’s that Midgardian phrase… _Quid pro quo_?”

“Ugh!” Jane sputtered, her face changing dramatically. “Grateful? _I_ don’t owe _you_ a damn thing! If anyone owes anyone anything, it’s you for what you did to Earth!”

He considered for a moment, basking in her disgust. Maybe it was time to show her a little more of his sense of humor if they were going to get through this. He stood, deliberately looming, knowing she would feel small in his shadow. “Are you suggesting that the mayhem and destruction I caused on Midgard was worth it for a little exquisite cunnilingus?” he said with a growing smile, “Too bad you weren’t my judge and jury a year ago-“

“Arrrgh,” she screamed, reaching for a pillow to toss at him. “Get out! I can’t even begin… That was SO not what I meant and you…know” she faltered, her eyelids closing, “It,” she finished as she drifted off against her will, the energy it took to be angry draining her faster than either of them expected.

Loki couldn’t help snickering as he wrapped an arm around her legs and swung them over so that she was back on the bed completely. He covered her with the sheets, cleaned her up with a spell and was still smiling as he went out into the other room.

There had been a delivery in his absence from the main chamber and he silently hoped that the guards had heard every one of Jane’s exquisite sounds. It was petty he knew, but the Einherjar had always whispered about him behind his back, at least this time the gossip would be complimentary. No one in the palace except the healers, Odin, Frigga and Frode knew exactly what was happening in his chambers. To the guards there was no telling what it looked like.

The delivery was from Frode, who had sent him several newly published books from Vanaheim that looked promising and a note that said he would come back later. He settled in for the afternoon with something to finally distract him from thoughts of Jane Foster.

\---

When evening rolled around again and he had had a simple supper, Loki reentered the bedchamber. As usual, Jane was passed out, but she no longer looked so much like a corpse. There was more color in her cheeks now and she just looked asleep. He couldn’t help but smile to see Jane there, reminded of her reaction that afternoon. But, he reminded himself, as much as he was enjoying teasing her, it would not do to become attached.

He came to the end of the bed and lightly pinched one of her toes through the sheets. She didn’t react. He tickled the bottom of her foot. Jane’s head moved just a fraction. He dug through the sheets to reach bare skin and found her ankle. As he began stroking it, Jane made a noise between a moan and a sleepy groan. He lifted more of the sheet, slowly exposing her completely, and placed his cool fingers on the thin skin just above her mound. He ran them over her lightly, causing a ripple of spasms to radiate from where he touched.

Jane awoke more fully starting to cover herself with her arms as best as possible. She gazed down at him, saying, “Stop it. That tickles.” She sounded sleepy but also annoyed and amused. Did she remember how they’d left things this afternoon? Maybe his little joke hadn’t actually offended her as much as she’d made it seem.

“Very well,” said Loki. He left off the contact completely and the haze slowly started to form again in Jane’s eyes.

She hadn’t had much time to formulate questions, as any good scientist would, but she thought she’d better ask a few before he got started with whatever he planned to do to her since he seemed to be standing there pondering her body like it was a banquet table. "Do you have to be right there at the spot to say the spell?" she asked.

"No, but I have to strongly stimulate that part of the body," he replied and Jane nodded. Loki lay down beside her and she wondered inanely whether it was his usual side of the bed. He sidled up next to her, making sure their bodies touched from chests down to feet, or her feet anyway, since he was so tall. He took her shoulders in his hands and tilted her body slightly propping her on some pillows. He was lying partially on top of her, the woven pattern of his green shirt scratching her nipples, the soft sent of leather and him filling her nose as she breathed shallowly. "Really I could say it from anywhere, if I had my hands free…" he said, punctuating this by pushing his hips slightly against hers.

"Hmm…Oh" said Jane, realizing what he meant. Her eyes were wide as he gave her an indiscreet smile. All in all, Loki wasn’t turning out to be quite as scary as she had initially thought him to be, but his teasing from their last ‘session’, as she’d begun calling them in her head, had been just risqué enough to fulfil her idea of his reputation. "Do you ever change clothes?” she asked, trying to think of something to soothe her uneasiness with being in so much contact with his form. “I think I've only ever seen you in that shirt."

"For one thing, you've only been here for about a day and a half. Also, I maintain myself by magic, these clothes are perfectly clean," he said, distractedly eyeing her breasts and beginning to caress one with a cool hand.

"And why don't I have any clothes?" she asked.

He looked at her for a moment, and scoffed, "You hardly need any." She tried to avoid looking him in the eye, no easy feat given his face’s proximity to hers.

"That's not the point. I want some. Mine. Where are they?"

He just sighed and rolled his eyes. "I'll just have to take them off you again… Unless you'd enjoy that?" he asked, his eyes narrowing and his hand starting to slide up her inner thigh.

“I don’t think so,” she blushed and started to ask another question, she didn’t get anything else out though because Loki’s hand had found its destination and she felt one of his long fingers enter her.

“Do try to focus, Jane,” he was saying, “Or we’ll be here all night.”

At the moment, that didn’t seem like much of a chore. His finger had left her and was now swirling over her folds. Lying on her side, the angle was not one Jane was used to, the oddity of it combined with feeling so exposed made her want to squirm. He continued in the same vein as he had before only this time, his particular attention was being paid to her breasts. He edged downward on the bed, using his lips and tongue and his free hand with precision and such persistence that she was sure there would be marks there tomorrow. She fumbled for something to do with her hands, finally settling them on his shoulders which were broader and stronger than she had imagined. His hand between her legs continued its almost rough treatment of her clit and his mouth sucked on one nipple, the tightness feeling almost unbearable in the best possible way. Her head thrashed side to side and she groaned. As he flicked her nub with his thumb, she came easily, her inner muscles clenching on two of his fingers buried deep inside her.

When she lay spent, both of them now flat on their backs, Jane realized she wasn’t dropping off to sleep as quickly as before and figured someone should say something to cut tension in the room now that the ‘procedure’ had been performed. “So, I guess you’re not the cuddling type,” she joked.

“No,” he said, snorting. But after a moment he went on, surprising Jane, saying “More the throw one arm over you and never let you leave the bed type.” Saying this he smiled to the rafters, privately amused.

“Well, I, for one, would love to be able to leave the bed, but it’s nothing to do with you,” she added quickly. “If I’m going to be laying here for longer and longer every time we do this, you’re going to have to entertain me,” she said, facing him with a little smile.

“I thought I just did,” he said perfunctorily, but then became serious saying, “Actually my mo- the queen brought a bag your friend sent. There were some clothes in it. You should be awake a little longer now, I’ll bring it to you.”

He stood and did so without complaint, surprising Jane a little. She thanked him and Loki left the room seeming preoccupied. She tried not to notice that the bed became a little cooler without him in it. She was pleased to be able to read the back matter of two books before succumbing to sleep again.


	8. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks guys for all the kudos and views. I am always boosted by them. I also am grateful for your comments. I really do read them; you all think of things that help me to make my next chapters better, so keep it up, please!

 

Loki spent another magically drained night on the sofa tossing and turning and thinking about Jane, specifically about the way her soft breasts had pressed against his chest and the color of her perfect nipples.

In the morning, he forwent breakfast, preferring to give Jane her next dose, not even knowing which area he would focus on. Perhaps he would let her choose, she seemed like the opinionated type. His mood was surly as he sat on the side of the bed next to her, uncovering her top half and looking down on her. The worried angel from the healing chamber was back and her hair was spread across his pillows now, his bed sheets forming lumpy golden wings. He sighed, expression softening and covered her again, fondling one breast through the sheet.

Jane made a tired noise and lifted her head a little, seeing him she dropped it back onto the pillows dramatically. “I don’t think I can do this,” she said.

“You have to, it’s the only-”

“I mean right now,” she said. “Can you just…stimulate me… in a low level kind of way. I’d like a chance to think a little,” she said tiredly.

Loki was surprised. He considered Jane’s proposal. It was practical, pleasurable for both of them, and it might give him a chance to ask some of the questions he’d been forming.

Jane watched her knees while waiting for a reply and eventually he said, “Alright. Shall I sit next to you then?”

She nodded and they arranged themselves so they were sitting side by side, Loki with an arm around Jane. He reflected that actually this was perfect, he could get to know her curves and spend some time planning what to do with them. Jane reflected that she was glad that apparently Loki’s mother had raised a no-means-no kind of son; if she hadn’t known what he was capable of, she probably wouldn’t have even considered him dangerous, especially not when he was acting like this. She was hyperaware of him with his arm around her and their sides touching. _Maybe thinking wasn’t such a great idea_ , she thought.

“We can talk,” she said, emboldened by not having to look him in the eye. She was beginning to see how that thing about talking to your teenager about sex when you’re driving in the car worked. Loki simply made a grunting noise which she took as a yes. He continued to stroke her breasts and sides, trailing his hands down her body through the sheet. “Um… What about the curse? Where did it originate? It seems pretty out there as an idea,” she said.

Loki huffed but not at her and explained his theory about the frustrated warlock and Jane said “That’s so typical, sexism getting women into trouble.”

“Who said he used it on a woman?” said Loki. “Anyway, it’s just a theory.”

They were quiet for a few moments before Jane said, “So this is Asgard.”

“Well, technically this is my bedroom in Asgard,” he said. “There are many wonders outside of it you should definitely see.”

“Sounds like a honeymoon joke...” she said, mostly to herself.

“What?”

“You know, a couple goes to Hawaii and doesn’t actually see any of it because...never mind.”

There was another pause, Jane thinking about what that couple might get up to, Loki cupping her left breast and lightly massaging it between his fingers.

“Did you mean what you said about this all being easier if you could use all of your…attributes?”

“Is that something you would consider?” He asked low in her ear.

Jane simply made a noncommittal hum and they sat in silence for some time becoming used to the feel of each other’s body and thinking their separate thoughts.

\--- 

Loki woke on the sofa later that day to find his mother watching him in amusement. He had come out of the bedroom feeling much more relaxed than when he went in and since there was nothing else for him to do, he decided to catch up on the sleep he had lost. It was now about lunchtime judging by the light coming in through the high windows. Frigga stood before the table which had a tray of food laid on it, only enough for one he noticed. He sat up and took a drink, motioning his mother to sit and they settled in like old times. “I was beginning to think you’d sleep the day away,” she said.

“The spell required is somewhat draining. It is more work than I thought it would be,” he said smoothing over the real reason for his insomnia the night before, “Perhaps it is a consequence of the time away from doing any proper magic.”

“Not tired for any other reason?” she wheedled. _Did she mean…?_ “You are not sleeping with her?” Frigga clarified. _Right,_ he thought.

“No. But I have reason to believe it might be more effective if I did. She woke for longer after…more involved stimulation, shall we say?” he said, slyly.

Frigga laughed. “I should never have given you that nickname,” she said.

“It was perhaps not inspiring in only the way you intended it to be,” he admitted, somewhat smugly.

“How is she, do you think?” asked Frigga.

“It is hard to tell. I don’t know what state her mind is in when she sleeps. It may seem to her like a quick succession of waking, orgasming, and passing out over and over again. She probably thinks I’m some sort of tyrannical sexual deviant.” he said, more amused than serious.

“Be careful not to let Thor hear you talk that way,” said the queen.

“He isn’t even here.”  
“He may be soon enough. All that’s left to do on Vanaheim is the peace treaty negotiations and you know his patience never lasted for things like that. He may return sooner than you think.”

“Yes, leave anything complicated to the diplomats. Who _does_ Odin have doing my old job?” he asked, pleased with himself.

“Never you mind,” said Frigga. “Odin will soon run out of excuses to keep Thor away from here. Are you making good progress?”

He thought for a minute and said, “What exactly is ‘good progress’? The sooner she’s out of that coma the faster I go back to my cell. It’s not much incentive.”

“Loki this is serious. I know she’s ‘Thor’s mortal’ but she is just an innocent,” she said. “You must try to remember that and not stall.”

“I’m not stalling. I’ll have her walking around in a few days at the most,” he said, taking a bite from a pear. “She’s been most… responsive to the treatment,” he added, thoughtfully.

Frigga’s eyes narrowed. She knew Loki would never unintentionally reveal anything, so he must have said it for a reason, but for what reason? Did she dare ask or would that be playing his game? Over the last year she had often had to ask herself this sort of question. In their conversations in his cell she had to be on top form to make sure she wasn’t revealing too much information. It was difficult but she had to repeatedly remind herself what her son was capable of. This time he might be operating on several levels. He might genuinely find Jane interesting, then again he might not but want people to think he did, he might want that little remark to get back to Thor somehow, or it might be some a combination of those options. Frigga chose to respond on the most basic level, not wanting to provoke an argument or contribute to any plans he might have.

“She is an interesting girl, I’m not surprised,” she finally said. “I should go. Your father does not wish me to visit you so much as it is.” They both stood and Frigga came to give him a quick hug. It was nothing like the hugs she’d given him in childhood, too brief and light an embrace, but is was filled with unspoken emotion they could both feel. Loki watched her go and remained on the sofa for some time.

\---

Jane Foster did not seem the type to lounge in bed with a man in the daylight hours, that much Loki knew. It might take some convincing, but when he went to wake her after lunch, he intended to up the stakes. Truth be told, he was getting bored, but it was far more than that. She was responsive enough now, clutching him with her arms and tossing her head in the throes of her passion, to make it clear she was having a good time in his bed. He couldn’t help but want to participate in the pleasure. In fact, he’d taken care of himself to thoughts of her in the shower the previous evening.

He told himself that his mother’s warning about Thor’s imminent return had nothing to do with his plans, that he was not merely taking what might be his last chance to bed the intriguing Jane Foster, but carrying on in a logical progression that would speed along Jane’s recovery and their conversation earlier had suggested that she might be receptive.

He found her lying in the bed on her side. She had the sheet up around her chest and she was wearing a thin sweater loosely about her shoulders, her arms were partly exposed and covered in gooseflesh. It was cool in his chambers and he mentally berated himself for not checking on her sooner. He quickly covered her with the duvet and rubbed up and down her arms to try to warm her.

Jane woke slowly, the mist receding leaving her looking at Loki’s green shirt once more, feeling chilled by something on top of her. “This comforter is freezing,” she said, finding the source.

“Yes, I know. I apologize, I only just looked in on you,” he said, trying to arrange the covers up around her shoulders, dislodging the sweater. “It is nearly spring but the winter clings this year. I will be more attentive in the future,” he said, in what she suspected was his _kind_ tone. But then he was pulling off his shirt and Jane balked, leaning back away from him as best she could into the covers. He’d caught her off guard and she watched through the growing purple mist, unable to look away as he continued to strip.

She had been right before, there was nothing scrawny or unattractive about him but it would have been a bit apples-and-oranges to compare Loki to Thor, she thought. He was well built but lean, more likely agile than strong. She quickly looked away as his black trousers hit the floor and he got into the bed. There was still a sheet between them when he pulled her against him and went back to rubbing her arms up and down, and then moving one hand to her back and continuing the motion. “It’s becoming easier to rouse you from sleep,” he said in a husky voice. Clearly this was not the casual Loki of their last encounter which only felt like it had only been minutes ago.

“Yeah, I think maybe the intensity those last two times means I'll be awake longer too. Is that possible?" she asked, eyes carefully avoiding him.

"Yes, I had suspected that might be the case," he said, gazing down on her. This made her look directly at him.

"Have you been holding out on me?" she asked.

"Holding out on you?" Loki asked, eyeing her suggestively.

"I mean with information," she said, blushing.

“No. In fact I was about to broach the subject,” he said, hands coming to rest on her back and shoulder. “Oh?” she asked, nervously.

“Yes. Every time I wake you, you try to distract me with inane questions,” he began, inching a hand onto her neck and beginning to caress her skin there.

“They’re not inane, they’re highly relevant,” she protested, trying to ignore the sensation.

“Well, I have a highly relevant question for you, Jane,” he said, leaning down to kiss along her jawline. “Do not you think,” he said slowly in a low voice, “That we should just get this over with and fuck?”

The emphasis he placed on that last word caused Jane to gasp. She had never heard ‘fuck’ sound like such an obscene word until this very moment and it set her pulse racing, he’d breathed it right into her ear and was slowly running his tongue along the rim, pulling the sheets down a little under the duvet for better access. His bare chest was resting against hers now and he must have been able to feel her heart beat because he said, “I see the prospect appeals to you.”

She didn’t know what to say to that. It was obvious that her body wanted to very much. So much skin was pressing into hers and his dark, cool scent was overpowering her.

“It will be fun,” he said, confidently.

“Are you really entitled to have fun?” asked Jane, eyeing him skeptically, breathing a little shallow now. “I mean, aren’t you a war criminal?”

“I fail to see how that’s relevant,” he laughed, “Besides, they’ve let me out to help you. The harder you come, the longer your orgasm lasts, which means I have time to sever more cords in one go. So, the more intense the experience for you, the more time you get to spend conscious,” Loki cajoled. He leaned her onto her back and started stroking her right breast.

“So, you would be doing it for _my_ benefit?” she asked, sarcastically, keeping her breathing as steady as possible.

“Oh, I _will_ enjoy it, but I shall make certain that you do too,” he said with a smirk.

"You know, you're awfully sure of yourself about how good you are in bed," she said.

"And you’ve seen no evidence that I have reason to be?" he asked, gazing at her chest.

"Well…” she blushed and thought for a moment before saying daringly, “Maybe you're better with your hands."

“Maybe _you_ are just stalling again.” He smiled but then became more serious, saying, “Tell me, do you have any real objections?” He had a strangely focused and penetrating look in his eyes, waiting for her response.

“I don’t know,” she sighed and thought about it as he continued to stroke her breasts and hip. Was there any harm, really? He’d been generously dolling out orgasms for what seemed like it was probably days now and he was very good at it, better than anyone she’d been with to date. It seemed unfair to Thor, however. She knew intellectually that it had taken him nearly two years but he had come back but they had picked up literally where they’d left off, making out with him in a cape standing by the Bifrost bridge, but did that mean anything?. And wasn’t this the fastest way to get it all over with? If she was awake more, she could probably spend her time in more healthy way, rather than only ever being awake to get sexual pleasure from a maniac fallen god. Having sex with Loki would thus help her to get some distance from him, ironically enough. She knew that logic didn’t seem right but with his hand now working its way up her thigh through the sheet it was hard to know what was logical. It was only sex after all. Jane had never really put that much stock in it. Decision made, she took a deep breath and said, “Okay.”

“Are you sure?” he asked.

“Now you hesitate? No, it’s fine, go ahead,” she said.

“Alright then,” he said happily and lay more of his weight on her. But then he held her jaw steady and did something she wasn’t at all expecting. He kissed her, square on the mouth, his tongue getting involved immediately when her jaw dropped in surprise. It was a soft, sensual kiss, slow and thorough. This wasn’t exactly what she _thought_ he’d implied. This felt ever so slightly romantic. She found herself forgetting all about breathing. Thankfully(?) it didn’t last very long. He moved down her body to kiss her neck with relish, pulling the sheet from between them under the duvet. She moaned on feeling the heat of him right next to her skin and placed her hands on his shoulders to steady herself. He was so tall compared to her, and she could feel all of him now, his hardening length was resting against her thighs. It was all overwhelming. There had to be something she was forgetting, something important, or at least something that would buy her about five minutes to think. “Stop!” she cried.

He stilled and let out a groan against her chest and she actually felt sorry for him momentarily, “No, not completely, I just mean wait for a minute. I’m not on birth control,” she explained. He picked his dark head up and gave her an inquiring look. “I mean I could get pregnant! What do you do about that here, to prevent it, I mean?”

“Oh,” he said, looking relieved, “There is a potion, you can drink it later,” he said dismissively and went back to kissing her chest enthusiastically, working his way toward her nipple.

“Oh, well…okay then,” she said wryly, not sure how she felt now that there need be no pause in the action.

“Just enjoy yourself, Jane. Turn off that brain of yours and feel,” he murmured against her breast. The things he was doing did feel marvelous. His fingers went to her center and found her wet. Wasting no time he positioned himself between her legs and placed his tip just inside her tight heat. “Alright?” he asked, making sure again.

“Yes,” said Jane, more assured this time. He began to push in and Jane could tell he was proportionately sized as his shaft stretched her. She clenched the sheets as he began thrusting slowly, hands still working her breasts, lips at her neck again. When she began to whine softly he paused to look at her face. He drove deep into her and said, breathily, “Hold on.”

She grabbed his shoulders and before she knew it he had flipped them so that she was on top and he was lying flat on his back. He hauled her upwards dragging her currently useless feet along behind her, and pulled her down so that her torso was flush with his, her breasts pressed tight against his chest. His fingers trailed down her spine and he continued to rock into her. His hands reached for her hips and he ground them down, the amazing friction causing her to moan loudly. She found herself grasping for his neck as he leaned down to capture her lips again. The feeling of his warm hands on the sides of her body was making her quiver. He was much stronger than she had thought he would be and he was doing most of the work for her, all she had to do was squeeze him with her thighs and knees while she shook with need. She hid her face in his shoulder as he pushed and she pulled and suddenly she was coming, it was more powerful than any of her previous climaxes, either before or since meeting Loki. He was panting, whispering the spell to her forehead and running his fingers around her sides and hips. Casting the spell must have taken some concentration because his thrusting had stopped momentarily and she lay against his chest, panting, feeling the contractions in her channel clenching and releasing around his length. When he had finished the counter-spell, he began to move again, holding her to him with his large hands on her back. He finished soon after, letting out a low groan and they both lay there, pulses slowing, sweat cooling on their bodies.

 


	9. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter takes place immediately after the last one, sorry if it seems a bit jarring.

When he had caught his breath, Loki picked Jane up, sliding out of her, and placed her on her back nearby but not touching him. She lay there hiding her face in her arms, he could hear her still slightly panting through them. Truthfully, she had him a little worried.

"Are you well, Jane? Did I hurt you?" he asked, glancing her over and lightly tugging at one arm.

"No, no," she assured him, dropping her hands. "It was just a little more… more than I'm used to." She grabbed the duvet and shifted it so it was back up around her chest.

"More what?" Loki asked. He waved a hand over her and she realized their combined sweat and other fluids had vanished from her body. Then he lay back against the pillows and joined her in staring at the vaulted stone ceiling.

"I don't know, intense, I guess." She was quiet for a few moments and then began to speak frankly. "You asked me before if I didn't like talking about sex. I guess I just… haven't much. I've never really had many female friends and I've always been pretty focused on my job and my research. Sex has never really been all that important to me."

"You must have been doing it wrong," he deadpanned.

"I've been doing it fine," she said, a little irritated and suddenly considering she might be wrong about that.

"Just fine?" he couldn't help it, this time he laughed out loud. It was a strangely relaxed sound coming from him, Jane thought, and unexpectedly pleasant. Then again, how dare he laugh at her?

"Hey, maybe I haven’t had as much practice as I could have but I'm not that old yet, I haven't had that many boyfriends,” she said and carried on conversationally, “The most serious was this doctor named Donald but we were both really busy people."

"Is that an excuse?" he asked, incredulous.

"It’s an explanation,” she said. “We were pretty settled so I guess we had a settled sex life. Not everyone is at it like rabbits, you know."

They were silent for a few moments before Loki slyly asked, "And what of Thor?"

"Oh no," said Jane. "Not a chance. Topic closed."

"Very well,” said Loki and the conversation lulled for a bit. “You said you aren't that old, how old are you?" he asked.

"I'm twenty-nine,” said Jane. “And rude, by the way, you should never ask a lady her age. I would have thought that rule was universal. How old are you? Like 2,000?"

"Actually, I am nearly 1,050," he said.

"I guess that isn't old for here…" She said doing some mental calculations and deciding not to tell him that proportionally he was actually younger than she was, all things being equal. She yawned but didn't feel particularly tired. "I keep waiting to pass out,” she said, sheepishly.

“Well, it doesn’t look like you’re going to, so,” he said, picking up a book from the table and handing it to her. He stood from the bed and headed toward what she assumed was the bathroom, not wrapping himself in a sheet or anything. She stared at him as he went for more than one reason, his physique of course, but not even bothering to cover up? Jane had never thought of herself as prudish but walking around naked didn’t seem very practical, or polite under these circumstances come to think of it. Shaking her head of the image, she opened the book and began to read.

 

Once he was in the shower with hot water streaming onto his face, Loki allowed himself to think about what had just happened. It had been extremely gratifying after full two days of getting Jane off to finally be allowed his own release inside of her. It had been a somewhat athletic bout of sex, at least for him, he thought. Having had to haul her useless muscles around for her in the act of passion had made him feel like he was completely in control of her, that her pleasure was the whole purpose of his existence. It had given him an unexpectedly heady rush and made concentrating on breaking the curse more difficult than usual, but that could certainly also have been the feeling of her body around his.

Though Jane hadn’t been particularly vocal or done much exploring of his body during their bout, he suspected that had more to do with her lack of experience or with the men she’d previously been with than with anything he had done. Jane had painted a fairly bleak picture of her sex life, in his opinion anyway, and given the delicious way she’d come around him, he knew he’d pleased her in a significant way and that was confirmed by what she had said afterward. With the right coaxing, he suspected Jane Foster, while not yet a sex goddess, certainly had potential.

He hadn’t wanted to look too curious when she didn’t answer his question about Thor. He knew from her tone that she would not elaborate and he decided it wasn’t worth it to pry. The truth was, he desperately wanted to know if Thor had been a disappointing lover. In their youth, the time period he now considered to include anything before Thor’s interrupted coronation, the dolt had bedded many women. Asgardians were not as hung up on privacy as Midgardians were and at celebrations of victories it was not uncommon to see a warrior ‘celebrating’ with a camp follower or maid in the corner of a banquet hall or even in the palace gardens, Thor had been such a warrior on more than a few occasions. The barmaids and strumpets of the taverns they frequented had thrown themselves at the son of Odin but Loki had noticed not many of them went back for a second serving. Then again, Jane Foster was no barmaid or strumpet and Thor had seemed desperate for her not to find out about any of them. He wondered, hypothetically of course, if it would be easy to destroy Jane and Thor’s relationship with that knowledge or if Jane would be conciliatory and understanding (as many were when it came to his brother) when confronted with the truth.

\---

When Jane Foster awoke next, it was like she was rising from deep waters. She had been in that strange purple haze again somewhere between asleep and awake for some time before fully coming to consciousness. She was surprised to find herself alone _. Finally_ , she thought as she stared up into the corbeled vaulting, _some time to think_.

The last few days(?) had been very confusing and all her recent memories were of purple fog, drowsiness and the feel of Loki's hands on her body. She took a few moments to review the events that had brought her here but the real problem was that she had no sense of time. She resorted to counting orgasms and remembered that Loki had told her she'd only been here about a day two orgasms ago. She suddenly felt a bit slutty, she’d slept with him after about three days, that was by far a new record, except for that one time in college.

It was a strange feeling, knowing that the enemy of Earth, the god that had tried to level her town, had been to bed with her. That she'd enjoyed it was mortifying and that during her stay here he'd been at least somewhat pleasant and even flirty was all the more strange. Loki wasn’t at all as she had imagined him.

She could hear indistinct voices coming from the room out past the open archway that served as a door to the bedchamber, she knew one was Loki but couldn't place the other, though it was most likely not Thor. She sat up in the bed and looked around the room. It was regally furnished with a chest of arms, asymmetrically designed chairs and a desk, all in deep browns and greens with gold filigree. The walls were stone and carved with intricate, stylized animals. She'd made a thorough examination of the ceiling last night lying in bed with her 'healer'. For all its medieval décor it was fairly well lit by windows and from the other room which she guessed was a sitting area. There was a smaller arch for a bathroom that Loki had disappeared into earlier.

She sighed. It was a strange situation and she was under duress to be sure, but _what_ had she been thinking, pillow talking with the God of Mischief? She wondered if there was any chance he wasn't going to use that information against her. He was already using her body’s reactions against her. But then again, was it using them against her or just using data? It was his job, after all, to get her to orgasm. What she had been really shocked by were his kisses, tender and yet passionate, Loki had surprised her there since she hadn’t been expecting kisses at all, thinking them too personal, but then maybe this was not the prevailing assumption on Asgard as it was on Earth.

The conversation outside seemed to get louder for a moment and she heard the sound of a heavy door being opened and closed. A few moments later, the object of her thoughts entered the room. Seeing her sitting up, his brows rose in surprise.

"Good evening, Jane," he said, coming to sit in the chair by the bed.

"Hi," she said, awkwardly. He was at least wearing clothes now and a little easier to look at. "Is it the same evening or the next one?”

“You mean how long have you been asleep?” he asked.

“Yes,” she replied.

“Only a few hours, I’m surprised you woke on your own, but then again I suppose that was the hope…” he trailed off, eyeing her intently. "Frode was just here, why didn't you come out?" he asked.

"Go out there? I can't use my feet," she said confused.

"You could have crawled on hands and knees," he said suggestively and she got the feeling he was up to something.

She gasped and started to say, "I would never-"

"No, I doubt you would," he said with a smirk.

Jane dismissed this, it wasn't worth her energy; she was too pleased to be awake to argue with him. "Is Frode a friend of yours?" she asked.

"A prince doesn't have real friends," he said, haughtily. At her glare he softened slightly and continued, "He's someone to talk things through with. We have similar interests."

"Sounds like a friend to me," she said, "Someone you can talk to."

"Yes, the all-important talking," he said sarcastically then made a brutal segue, asking in a conspicuously conversational voice, "Tell me, Jane, just what do you and my brother talk about?" and placing an elbow on the armrest and his chin in his hand.

She knew he was goading her but she answered him seriously. "Well… we talked about Yggdrasil and the realms and Einstein Rosen bridges, the Bifrost..."

"In other words, you exhausted his intellectual range within an hour?"

"That's not nice," she chided.

"I'm not nice," he groused but without venom.

"You could be," she huffed.

"I've been nice enough to you," he said, eyeing her slyly.

"I don't know that _nice_ is what I would call it," she said, dropping her eyes to the coverlet.

"Maybe nice isn't what you want," he countered, rising and coming closer to the bed.

"Yes it is," she said firmly, getting the feeling she was suddenly swimming in the deep end.

"Are you sure?" he said in a solicitously mocking voice. "I'm willing to bet that you don't even know what arouses you, Jane." He started shedding his clothing as Jane watched wide eyed, not sure what to do. She shifted back into the pillows as best she could. He wasn't having it, seeing her there even somewhat relaxed and relatively sure of herself had made him want to take her down a peg or two, in the 'nicest' possible way, of course.

Jane was by now mobile enough to make fleeing him seem like a tantalizing prospect but ultimately she knew it would be fruitless. Surely he didn’t mean for them to…not so soon. The thought of it dismayed and aroused her at the same time. It had been…nice…extremely nice and intense and she felt sure that she wanted to do it again but she had wanted time to think, but then again when he had taken charge in the past it _had_ rather worked out in her favor.

Out of the corner of her eye she could see that Loki had now removed his leather trousers without a hint of shame and sat on the bed upright against the pillows stretching his long legs out in front of him. He wrenched the covers out of the way and reached for her, pulling her over his lap by the hips so that she was straddling him. The sudden rush of cool air on her skin was making Jane feel exposed and the intimate contact with his naked body made her feel like she had to at least try to get control of the situation. "Um, so what does this counter-spell sound like?" she asked, trying to distract him as usual.

"You'll hear it soon enough," he said, confidently, hands beginning to run up and down her back and shoulders. He thought he’d give her feet, the next item on his list, a skip, preferring to keep her in his bed a little longer.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"I intend to release your ears," he said.

"My ears?" she snorted. "Is that _really_ an erogenous zone?" she asked, in cynical disbelief.

Loki looked at her askance, as if he couldn't believe what he was hearing. He leaned forward to position his lips at one ear and rumbled, "You tell me," and darted his tongue out to lick the thin skin behind it. Jane’s shoulders rose and she inhaled sharply as she felt a bolt of arousal streak straight down to her corresponding nipple which was pressed against his hard chest by the hand at her back. The tightness she felt there was exquisite.

“Right,” she said, breathless as one of his hands inched its way between her spread thighs.

“The curse only attached itself to the areas you in particular find arousing, there are more. But you are distracting me again," he said, giving her a discerning look. "We were going to find out what arouses you."

"You don't have to do that," said Jane, ducking her head but on seeing him semi-erect in his lap she instantly looked back up and away from him, furrowing her brow and swallowing hard.

"So you're not particularly visual," he said in a low voice. "Perhaps auditory?" he whispered into her ear. "Ah, I see," he rumbled and nipped her earlobe since she'd inadvertently placed it so close. "Responds to stimulation of the post auricular erogenous zone. Mmm…and perhaps a touch of a vocabulary kink?"

Her eyes shot back to him, "I am not kinky. That’s one thing I know for sure."

"There are all kinds of kinky, Jane," he said with a sly smile. "Maybe you like scientific words?" he queried, amused with himself. "You're out of luck with Thor there, I'm afraid. He probably doesn't even know that these," he placed the hand that had been on her thigh on her outer lips and darted a finger between them to test her wetness and said slowly and deliberately, "are called the labia."

She let out a low moan and he grabbed her sides, repositioning her over him. She held onto his shoulders but had no cause or will to stop him by that point. He'd been right, the words had turned her on, she could feel the wetness between her legs. He sank her down onto his now fully hard cock slowly, holding her in place with one arm around her waist, and began thrusting lightly. His other hand reached up into her hair and he renewed his assault on her earlobe, grazing it and the skin behind her ear with his teeth. It was incredibly erotic and the cold at her back from being held out in the open air, with nothing but Loki's body for support, was arousing in and of itself. She was half gone by the time he began to piston his hips back and forth harder, reaching a place deeper inside her than he had gone last night. His pelvic bone was hitting her clit in just the right way and she braced herself against his chest and came around him in record time, he whispered the spell in her ear and she felt it break inside her but he wasn't finished yet. He was still rock solid inside of her and continued the smooth motion of his hips and forced a hand between them putting pressure on her now overly sensitive clit, bringing her back to the brink and over the edge. She tried, unsuccessfully not to moan, and hid her face in his neck. He was running his fingers through her silky hair as he whispered the spell again and she knew her ears and scalp were free. Her cheek was resting against his sagging head as he resumed thrusting lazily, finishing inside of her with a great exhalation of breath. Afterward they both sat there slumped together, cooling off and letting their breathing return to normal.

After a time, Jane allowed Loki to maneuver her down onto the bed and arrange her as though she were a mannequin. Though she could move her arms, neck, shoulders and thighs now, her lower legs still felt mostly like dead weight and naked as she was she didn’t feel like accidentally exposing herself in some odd and unflattering way that she couldn’t get herself out of. Better to let him figure it all out. He sat there with her lying by his side, waving a hand to clean them up.

At this practiced movement, a thought occurred to her and Jane asked, "How many women have you had in here, anyway?" Loki found her tone ever so slightly judgmental and looked at her as if to ask what she was getting at. "You seem like you've had _a_ _lot_ of practice," she clarified, reddening and he smiled, shaking his head.

"I haven't _had_ any women in here," he said, slowly getting out of the bed. "The only woman who's been in here is Frigga." She looked at him skeptically. "This is my space Jane. All of my books are here, my weapons, my clothes. No one is allowed in here."

Loki’s face now looked very serious, as if she'd mortally offended him. Jane was suddenly incredibly conscious of the fact that she was naked in his bed, under his sheets, in his room, alone with him. The air felt colder, sharper against her bare arms and she pulled the thick coverlet up to her neck and hid her body beneath it. He was still looking at her in a strange, fierce way but his voice was quiet, less certain when he said, "All that I possess is in these rooms."

They talked little more that evening, and Jane found herself falling asleep naturally rather than feeling the encroaching fog for the first time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A note about Thor: In my characterization of him I chose to remember him from the first movie: arrogant, not very subtle, etc. It strikes me as possible that he probably wouldn't be a very good lover on that basis, plus, if he's been loyal to Jane since the first movie, he wouldn't have got in a lot of 'practice' since becoming a better man. I just thought I would explain my reasoning, rather than have people think I'm hating on Thor. I really do like him. 
> 
> Hope you guys still enjoying this. I am working busily on the next few chapters and I am really hoping for some constructive criticism on my writing esp for the relationship development aspects. This fic has gotten a lot more romantic than I had originally planned and I might be a little over my head for that aspect. Any comments would be appreciated. Thanks!


	10. Chapter 9

Jane woke early the next evening, a glance at the light from the windows telling her she must have slept for about twenty hours straight. Loki had explained it would be her fourth day in his rooms when she next woke but she seemed to have slept it away. Now that she was able to predict things a little better, she had put on a t-shirt and a pair of plaid pajama pants that Darcy had sent.

She lay in bed for a while flexing her various muscles. It was curious not to be able to move any of the ones that were still cursed, but she could still feel the touch of her finger upon them when she probed. Loki had still yet to free her feet and ankles, the small of her back and any of her private parts. He had suggested too last night that she had at least a tendril of the curse running into her brain which made him think her imagination should also be on the list, though he was still figuring out how to stimulate it. It was also strange that the edges of her vision were ever so slightly tinted with purple, which she was getting used to, oddly enough.

She grabbed for a book from the nightstand and tried for a while to read but there were too many things running around in her head to concentrate. Most of her thoughts still centered on Loki even though she had hoped for some distance. Her reactions to him were strictly physical as far as she was concerned. It was the combination of oxytocin, dopamine, hormones, and his closeness and touches that were making her obsessed with him. After all, who wouldn’t respond to such expert encouragement? She was resolved, it must be chemical because she hardly knew him really.

Loki was everything she had read in the snippet about him in Erik’s book: enigmatic, charming (when he wanted to be), sly, and playful. He must have had great success over the years with women to get so good in bed. He didn’t even seem to be trying all that hard, which made her shiver thinking about what else he might be able to do to her.

She could even admit to herself that he was very good looking. He wasn’t good looking in the same way as Thor, who was ruggedly handsome with a strength that radiated from every curve and plain of his body. Rather, there was an elegance to Loki’s sharp, pale features that was almost feminine but a confidence underlining his visage which was inherently manly.

And what of Thor? Loki had asked her but she had stayed completely silent on the subject. Even though Jane vaguely remembered him coming to see her in Loki’s rooms early on, and he had seemed understanding, the more she thought about it, the more she thought this would probably end things with Thor for good, not that things had really started in the first place. And then there was the thought of what Thor would say when he found out that she had had sex with Loki. She didn’t even want to think about that. She wondered if there was a way to salvage whatever it was they had had and if she even wanted to. She’d been almost over Thor, then he had to come back and kiss her like that.

After about an hour of trying to read, largely unsuccessfully, Loki entered the room carrying a silver goblet. He crossed the room carefully, making sure not to spill its contents.

“I’ve brewed you that potion we talked about. If you drink it all you should be protected against pregnancy for about a month,” he said, coming over to her side of the bed and handing it to her delicately. Jane looked at its contents. It looked like green tea and tasted similar but with a slightly more bitter aftertaste. She started drinking as he sat in the chair.

“You brewed it, you said?” she asked, curious.

Loki’s face brightened and he gave a her a little smile. “Yes, it was nice, actually. Even such a simple potion is a chance to practice. I got the herbs from my mother’s garden,” he said, almost wistfully.

Jane continued drinking and a thought occurred to her, almost making her spit some out. She smirked and said, mostly to herself, “Oh my god. You _are_ Snape!” He gave her a quizzical look, and she just said, “He’s a character, a wizard in a book. Never mind.”

“How long have you been awake?” he asked.

“About an hour, I think.”

“Hungry at all?” he asked.

“No, come to think of it, what’s going on with that?” she asked.

“Eir and I talked about this when she came by earlier. We think the curse has you in some sort of stasis,” he explained and seeing her nonplussed expression he continued, “It wouldn’t be much good to cast this sort of spell if the victim died of thirst before they could be cured. A maintenance spell must be built in somehow.”

Jane gave a noise of understanding.

“Personally, I’m famished,” he said pleasantly and got up to pull a long piece of cloth that she supposed was some sort of servants’ bell. “Anything interesting?” he asked, coming back and indicating her book. He seemed to be in a good mood and it put Jane at ease. She thought she might try her luck on something she’d been thinking about for a while.

"I haven’t really started it yet,” she said, placing the empty goblet on the nightstand. “I’m so restless. I have got to get out of this bed. I know you've been cleaning me with magic, but I desperately want to take a real shower."

"And just how would that work?” he asked, an amused but also somewhat annoyed expression forming on his face. “I haven't released your feet yet, I'd have to be in there with you, holding you up- when do we start?" he about-faced, mid-sentence, giving her a saucy smile.

Her face reddened, and she knew what he was imagining because she was imagining it too: leaning back against him, both of them naked while he soaped her up, her holding onto him by wrapping her arms back around his neck. She turned her head away and said, "Maybe I could just have a bath."

"I would still have to watch you…Make sure you didn't drown," he said, eyeing her chest through half closed lids in a way that made her wonder if one of his powers was X-ray vision.

He stood and came over to the bed saying, “Shall we?” He lifted her into his arms and she grabbed him by the shoulders in surprise. She had half expected him to delay or something, thinking surely he had better things to do. He carried her into the bathroom and sat her down on the vanity. Jane looked around and stared. Against all odds, it was a fairly normal, Earth-esque bathroom, if fancy, like something in a Tuscan holiday house, not that she had ever been to one of those. It had large sunken pool in the middle that looked like a Roman bath, with a stair and a seat all around the edges and a deep spot in the middle, it was probably big enough for about eight people. There was a large walk-in shower too, with no curtain, just a stone half-partition, for a showerhead there was a wide mouthed gargoyle that looked like it poured water out in a fan shaped stream. There was another partition which concealed the toilet, she assumed.

Loki had busied himself starting the water flowing into the bath and was taking off his clothes, something he was doing with disturbing frequency lately, as far as Jane was concerned, but then again she wasn’t exactly complaining. He looked up at her after having taken off every last stitch and said, “Well? Did you want me to strip you by hand?” he asked with a smirk.

“No.” said Jane indignantly, reaching for the hem of her t-shirt and then asking, “How _did_ you get my clothes off me, without it waking me up?”

“Like this,” he said and waved his hand. Her clothes vanished, leaving her completely exposed, sitting not three feet from him, holding onto the cold marble of the vanity to steady herself. He didn’t give her time to complain however, just picked her up and walked into the pool.

The water was steaming hot, it felt wonderful and Jane could almost forget that she was bathing with the megalomaniac who had tried to take over her planet. He indicated the soap and then sat himself down opposite her. While she bathed herself, they sat in a somewhat awkward silence.

When she had finished, Jane and Loki sat for a while soaking in the hot water. She still felt awkward around him and his direct gaze wasn’t helping since she always got the feeling he was thinking a lot more than he was saying. She knew she had been avoiding looking him in the eye as much as possible over the last few days, as if he were some mythical creature that might steal her soul. It was ridiculous of course but sitting here with him, she was becoming aware that it might also be because she found him attractive and hadn’t wanted to look at him too much, as if not looking would somehow negate the effect he had on her. At the moment, he wasn’t eyeing her in a very sexual way, since all her private attributes were hidden under the soapy water, but he still watched her, curiously.

The silence was interrupted by a door Jane hadn’t noticed before opening inward from the wall as if the stone had swung open. A young man entered with a tray full of food and Jane hunched down into the water even deeper than she already was. Loki just sat there amused by her. He said nothing as the servant set the tray down at the edge of the bath and bowed, leaving without a word.

“I thought you said ‘no one’ was allowed in your rooms,” she said.

“Naturally I didn’t mean servants,” he said in a haughty and presumptuous way, picking up an apple and taking a big bite.

“They’re people too,” said Jane, annoyed for the servant’s sake.

“And we treat them with respect. They have jobs to do, we don’t keep them sitting around chatting with pointless niceties,” he said, cutting some bread with a vicious looking serrated knife.

“How did he know we were in here?”

“Another servant probably heard us. There are passages between practically every room,” he said.

“You mean, someone could be standing behind that fake wall listening? That’s weird,” said Jane, definitively.

“How else are they to answer promptly?” he asked. He considered her point for a moment and said, “I suppose I’m just used to it. There’s always been a servant nearby. If I waited until I was entirely alone to do something I’d be waiting forever.”

“Wait, so even when you’re like… in bed with someone?”

“Well, as I said before, I don’t normally take women in these chambers,”

“You mean ‘bring women’ in them,” she corrected.

“No.” He snickered, undoubtedly thinking she was a bit naïve. She blushed again. “You are so easily abashed, Jane. Asgardians are not so embarrassed by sex as Midgardians seem to be, you in particular.”

“I’m not embarrassed, I’m just…” she trailed off, not knowing exactly why he was able to bring a blush to her cheeks so often, and not really wanting to think about it. “You don’t think it’s a little weird to be having sex when you know someone can hear you?”

“Hel, at banquets we don’t care much if they can _see_ us.” At her astonished look he continued, “When you drink as much thousand year aged mead as we do, Jane, you can’t even pronounce the word ‘inhibitions.’ It’s not in good taste but it certainly isn’t unheard of.”

Jane was silent for a moment and then asked, quietly, “But a prince wouldn’t do that?”

Loki smiled a vicious smile and said, “I thought you didn’t want to talk about him?” knowing she meant Thor.

She took a deep breath and sighed. "Where is he anyway?" she asked.

"I know he went to Vanaheim, but he may be back by now."

"Oh, right. I think I remember him telling me that. Well, if he is here, can't I see him? I'm awake a lot more now," she said.  
"Just how do you think that would work?" asked Loki, looking a little irritated.  
"He could come in after...we could have some sort of signal." Jane said.

"We signal him?” said Loki, mood quickly souring. “So what... I _wake_ you, give the signal, he enters the room, which by the way smells deliciously like our come, and hangs about chatting until you fall asleep in my bed and I have to show him out? Shall I clap him on the back in a brotherly fashion at the door? Shall we shake hands, mine reeking of your essence?"

"Okay, never mind!” Jane shouted, waving her hands to stop him speaking. She thought for a moment about his words. “You know, what you just said, that was… unnecessarily graphic," she ground out.

"No, it was necessarily graphic,” sneered Loki. “You really don't like that sort of talk, do you?"

She didn't reply to that but took a deep breath before saying, "I think I'm ready to get out now. I doubt I have long left to be awake."

“Very well,” he said abruptly. He picked her up again and they left the pool, drying them both with a whispered spell but not bothering to magic any clothes on. “You know, you’re lucky I was here for more than just my sorcery,” he groused, setting her down on the bed once more. “If Thor had been required to make you come as many times as I have, he would have run out of ideas days ago. I doubt he even knows where most of the erogenous zones are.”

“That’s not nice,” she said, settling herself back on the pillows, covering herself with a sheet.

“Be truthful with me Jane,” he said, sneering again and sitting on the edge of the bed next to her. “How was he?” She looked blankly. There was a look of mock concern on his face and his voice had taken on a solicitous, slightly higher pitch when he elaborated, “During his three days in that tin can with you, did he manage to make you come?” He was moving closer, she ducked down further into the soft mattress, instinctively backing away from him as best she could, clutching the sheet around her otherwise bare breasts. He got close to her, his face practically filling her field of vision. His eyes sparkled malevolently and in a lower, harsher voice he said, “I bet you were as dry as that desert.”

She slapped him, hard. His head whirled back, light flashing in his vision. “How dare you?” said Jane, her tone unmistakable, she was no longer playing along, putting up a front of amicability to get through this bizarre situation.

“What are you so angry about?” he asked harshly, grabbing her arms as she started to rise up, and pushing her back into the pillows. He was on top of her in a flash. “Could it be true?” There was an odd look on her face. He didn’t often have to think so hard to interpret people’s faces, he searched hers now. This Midgardian woman was unpredictable, he had to admit. She certainly didn’t respond the way the peasant girls and milkmaids had all those hundreds of years ago, but it wasn’t all due to the changing of the times. She had shown… _gumption_ (a word he had learned from Barton, as he read the archer’s thoughts about that delectable red-head, Romanov, whom he'd called his ‘friend-with-benefits’) but at the moment it seemed to be failing her. He found his will to dismay her with thoughts of Thor’s ineptitude had abated.

“What is it, Jane?” he asked, relaxing his grip and rising up on his arms, away from her. He let go of the aura of intimidation he had purposefully drawn about him like a cloak. He spoke more softly now, and Jane looked away not afraid anymore but obviously disquieted by something.

She said something so softly he had to ask her to repeat it. “I never got the chance to find out,” she said, louder. “All we did was kiss, once or twice, and then you came along,” she sighed, ruefully. “Or the destroy-o-bot, whatever that thing was. He had to go back to Asgard right away.” They were both silent for a few moments.

“Perhaps I was hasty,” he said in a lighter tone, malice ebbed, reseating himself on the edge of the bed again. She looked back at him, a question forming on her face. “Thor must at least be some kisser if you spent two years trying to find a bridge back to him.” To his ears it sounded kind, like he was trying to build her up. He didn’t know why he said it, she had just seemed so disappointed all of sudden.

“Don’t make fun of me,” she said, anger rising again.

“I wasn’t,” he said, but she wasn’t mollified. “I didn’t mean it like-

“Just go away. Leave me alone,” she interrupted and there was a beat of silence between them.

“These _are_ my rooms,” he said. “And I’m locked in,” he added, attempting to lighten the mood.

“Well then go to some other part of them,” she groused. “I can’t walk yet, so you’ll have to.”

Loki looked downward and sighed. He summoned some clothes and obeyed. So she hadn’t lain with his brother after all, he thought as he left the room. He felt strangely elated for a reason he couldn’t quite place. He settled on simple one-up-manship, that he had had her first, but the idea was uncharitable to Jane, as if she were just something to fight over. He thought she didn’t seem like the kind of girl one toyed with, having had so few serious relationships, it seemed a pity she had become a pawn in their fraternal struggle. He decided he did not dislike Jane Foster enough to want to see her hurt badly. It bore thinking about and treading lightly. Luckily, Loki thought, he was very capable of doing just that.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Note: I know, I know, there's no sex in this one. I will be updating again sooner than usual with the next chapter to make up for that.  
> Also, I know Barton has a wife and kids now, but I started this before I saw Age of Ultron and I still think he and Natasha were probably friends w/ benefits at some point, so I'm standing by that line.


	11. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As promised, here's an early update for you. I have pretty much decided to alternate between the erotic and the non-erotic chapters from here on out. It's just where the plot has taken me. Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy it!

Early the next evening Loki was feeling quite popular. He’d spent the day reading and rearranging his books which had been brought from his cell by Frode who had stayed for a talk. He tried not to get his hopes up too high as to what it might mean in terms of his imprisonment. Eir had also dropped by, and now the door was opening again for the Queen of Asgard. She had some unpleasant news, Thor would be back tomorrow and he’d sent the warriors two (Hogun having stayed in his home realm) ahead; they had heard all (well, probably not _all_ ) about Jane Foster naturally, and wanted to meet her.

Frigga had gone into the bedroom to talk to the mortal, casting a muting spell upon the archway. He didn’t bother to try breaking it, if his mother wanted privacy she could have it. He doubted Jane would raise any objections about the things they had been doing, not when she seemed to be enjoying them (even if she didn’t want him to know it, hiding her face and stifling her cries as much as possible) and especially not to his mother.

Jane was now sleeping about 18 hours out of the day, awake only in the evenings. He had allowed her to sleep all day, not wanting to think about exactly why. His mother’s words came back to him again and he wondered if perhaps he was stalling a little. Spending some time doing nothing but talking with Jane yesterday had been unexpectedly nice. Teasing and provoking her was proving to be a lot of fun, something he sorely needed after a very boring year. He was beginning to see why Thor had been so taken with her.

At first, Jane had been feisty in her reactions to him. Now however, since she had become able to carry on actual conversations and not fall asleep in the middle of sentences, he sensed a reticence growing in her. Gone was the wry acceptance and in its place was a shyness he was having a hard time accounting for. Some of it certainly had to do with her dismissal of sex as unimportant in life he knew but it was something else also. Now that he knew Thor had never bedded her, he could only assume it was some other inept fool who hadn’t been able to free the passion she so obviously contained, perhaps even made her insecure for some inconceivable reason. He had begun to think about what he might be able to do about that, even if she was Thor’s mortal, that didn’t mean she deserved to go through life having boring or unsatisfying sex. As happened so often with him, _thinking about_ soon became _plotting over_ and he spent a pleasant while doing just that.

\---

Jane was sitting in bed reading, wearing a t-shirt and pajama pants. She was happy to be out from under the covers and wearing clothes again, especially when she looked up at a figure in the archway and realized she had a visitor. "Hello Jane," the woman said, pleasantly. "I am Frigga, Thor and Loki's mother."

 The Queen of Asgard was a stately woman who looked about fifty but was, of course much older. She was decked out in flowing blue silks and a metal breastplate adorned with gold filigreed leaves and flowers. Her hair was arranged partly in intricate braids and partly free, flowing nearly to her waist. She came over to the bed and sat in Loki's usual chair.

 "Hi," said Jane, awkwardly, marking her page and setting her book down. "I would bow or curtsey or something but I can't stand up…" she trailed off, embarrassed.

"That's perfectly alright. I know all about your circumstances," said Frigga sympathetically, but the things that Jane had done with this woman's son were making it difficult to look her in the eye, no matter how nice she was being. "What's the matter? Loki is treating you well?"

"He _is_ doing that," she said, a little under her breath. "I just... This is just all a little...weird." she said to Frigga.

"You needn't be bashful, Jane. On Asgard a mother is only embarrassed by this sort of talk if it turns out her son _doesn't_ know what he's about in bed," said the queen, amused. Jane couldn't help but laugh, the woman suddenly reminding her of Darcy just a little bit. “But you must tell me if he does anything untoward, I know my son so I know just how to punish him.” She watched as Jane smiled gratefully.

She looked thoughtful for a second and asked Jane, “You are a scientist, a sort of astrologer as I understand it?”

They talked for some time about Jane’s interests and profession and about the difference between Asgardian magic and Midgardian science. Jane was surprised to find herself confiding in the older woman and having a good time. Then again, the prospect of a visit from anyone was exciting since she had been trapped in this room for days without anyone to talk to but Loki. She said so, in what she hoped was a nice way, and Frigga asked if she wouldn’t like to get out for a bit. They arranged for Jane to take a walk in the gardens the next afternoon and Jane found herself really looking forward to it.

\---

“Hey,” said Jane as Loki entered the bedchamber about an hour after Frigga had departed. “Your mom is so nice! She’s going to arrange for me to get out, walk around the gardens.”

“She is the queen of Asgard, and you have her arranging your excursions?” he asked, amused.

“It’s not like that, she offered... I’m going to need my feet though,” she said, not sure how else to bring it up.

“I live to serve,” he said, smirking. “Shall we?” With that Loki took off his shirt, the non-magical way, and caught her watching the bedclothes again as he straightened up.

“Why are you always doing that? You think I'll turn you to stone? Wrong mythology, Jane,” he said.

“No, just giving you a little privacy,” she said.

“Which I never asked for and don’t need,” he said.

“I’ve noticed,” she muttered.

“Embarrassed? I bet you’ve only ever fucked in the dark.” He said it without malice, but she bit her lower lip in response. “I see,” he said, grinning.

“See what?” she asked, nervously.

"Your relative lack of experience," he said, gently. “It also explains why you try to be so quiet and why you avert your eyes from me.”

"I don't,” Jane started but then realized there was no point.

"Fine. Eighty percent of the time," he said, appealing to her scientific sensibility. "Either that or you're hiding your face entirely."

There was a pregnant pause before he sat down on the bed and said, “You don't have to think I'm judging you, Jane," he said in earnest.

“I don’t care-” she started but he cut her off.

"Yes you do, it's written all over your face,” he said, tilting her chin up with one finger. “I've seen all kinds of reactions, Jane. I've seen a complete lack of reactions, I've _not_ seen the reactions because I was blindfolded, I've blindfolded so _my_ reactions can't be seen. I know when someone's hiding."

 _Right,_ she thought, _that was graphic_.

"What I'm saying is, if you're enjoying it, why not let me know?" he continued. "Were you like this with your healer?"

"Huh?" said Jane. The only 'healer' she could think of at the moment was Loki, did he mean doctor? "You mean Donald?"

"Yes, the one from your ‘settled sex life’,” he teased.

“No, but he wasn’t like you,” she said quickly, then regretted it. There was a pause as Loki watched her, his gaze direct and sultry.

“He didn’t excite you like I do?” he asked in a low voice. It didn’t sound like a question he needed answered. Jane took a deep breath trying to think of something to say. Her mind was blank, it was a moment of truth but she had no words.

“I told you before, I never really thought sex was all that important,” she said.

“And now what do you think?”

She gave him a sad look, one that said she desperately wanted to change the subject. Loki smiled, for once it was nice and encouraging. It transformed his face into something she never thought she’d see. He looked younger, less weighed down by fate or circumstance. But before she knew it the look was gone and Loki was pulling her by the hips to the edge of the bed, letting her legs swing over the side where her feet hovered above the floor.

He pulled off her pajama pants and underwear but left her top on, thinking she might be more comfortable for what he had in mind. He had positioned her so there were no pillows to shield her and the duvet and sheets were beneath her and if all went to plan, she’d be unable to hide in his neck. He knelt between her legs, kissing her from one knee up her inner thy finally ending at the patch of hair between her legs where he began to prepare her with his lips and tongue.

Jane was surprised, she hadn’t expected ever to retread this territory thinking that guys only did this sort of thing under duress. Loki seemed to be enjoying himself rather, he was making satisfied humming noises occasionally, sending vibrations to her already throbbing clit. He continued with his tongue, driving it inside of her and she moaned at the strange but amazing sensation.

He ended the torture quickly, rising up so that he was standing now and brought her legs with him, resting them on his chest with one foot on either side of his sternum and stepping to the bed so that she lay there almost perpendicular. He vanished his trousers and was inside her almost immediately, the new angle providing fresh stimulation. Her legs being so close together made him feel even larger than he already did and Jane squirmed. He held still for a moment and said, “Jane?” He waited until she looked at him. “This time I want you to watch me, Jane," he said in a low voice, slightly out of breath. “And I want to watch you. You don't need to hide your pleasure from me."

She lay there taking shallow breaths and his brows rose in question. It was a choice, he was giving her the choice to embrace this new direction or to back down. Looking at the expectant look in his eyes, she found herself not wanting to disappoint him, and wanting to see him just as much as he apparently wanted to see her. Finally, breathing shallowly, she nodded, saying, “Okay.”

The look on his face told her it was worth any embarrassment she might have. Having not dared to look before when he was inside her, she was surprised to see that his eyes were half closed and he gazed down on her with a dark intensity. He braced her thighs, drove into her fiercely and groaned. Through the overwhelming sensation of him deep inside her, she watched as his shoulders and chest rose and fell with his rapid breathing and didn’t think she’d ever seen anyone look so passionate. She cast about for something to grip but her hands came up empty, leaving her nothing to do or focus on but him.

His intensity emboldened her and when his driving reached such a pace that she started to feel the sweat dripping down her sides she grabbed the hem of her shirt and pulled it off. She was bare underneath and could tell the Loki was appreciating the view. As he pounded faster her bobbing breasts probably made quite a picture. He was using both hands, caressing her ankles now and alternately kissing the bottoms of her feet. He paused for a moment to reach between her legs and pulled her hand from where it clutched her shirt in a tight grip, moving it down to her folds, breathlessly saying, “Help me, Jane. Show me how you touch yourself.”

His voice had been strained and gruff and Jane obeyed instantly as Loki kept watching her body moving with his thrusts. All thoughts of impartially observing him disappeared and she could control herself no longer, quickly squeezing and pulling her nub in the way she liked and coming with a loud moan she was sure any passing servants could hear. As the waves crashed over her, her breathing slowing, she lay there now clear headed and somewhat detached and kept watching Loki. Strain furrowed his brows as he broke the curse on her feet one at a time, his head turning right then left, long hair in disarray falling forward over his shoulders. She wanted to hold them like she usually did but he was too far away and so when the urge struck her, she gave in to it as soon as she could feel the muscles mobile again, caressing his sweating neck with the top of one foot, surprising him. He drew in a large breath and caught her glance once more, a ferocious look was in his eyes now and she realized he was coming. It was an empowering sight, to see his eyes close as he bent forward into her legs and she had to support his weight momentarily. Soon he seemed to recover, still panting harshly, and pulled out, weakly placing her feet on the floor. He sat on the bed next to her, collapsed backward and started laughing hysterically.

“I knew it,” he said with a great exhalation a few moments later. “I knew you could do it.”

“I don’t see what’s so funny,” said Jane, thinking he was laughing at her.

“Don’t get embarrassed on me again, I think we’re well past that, now,” he said, propping himself on one arm. “I can honestly say no one’s ever rubbed my neck with her foot. You’re my first, in over a thousand years.” He was smiling down at her, impressed, and she couldn’t help but smile back and laugh a little with him.

That was, until he proved that sometimes gods were just like regular men, dragging himself around the bed still chuckling and soon falling asleep on top of the covers, his soft breathing reassuring and steady. It was strange to think this might be the first night she spent with him. She crawled under the covers herself and read for a while thinking, quite rightly, that it wouldn’t bother Loki.

He lay there dozing, splayed like a drunken satyr with all his, considerable, goods shamelessly on display. Jane couldn’t keep her eyes on the page very well, they strayed to the well-defined, lean chest that she had wound her arms around enough times now to know its breadth. They strayed to his large, and surprisingly strong hands, the kind that made her feel safer than should be possible given this particular god’s moniker. She tried to read for another half hour or so before Loki shifted and raised a bleary head.

 

“Did I…?” he murmured.

“Yes, I didn’t want to wake you.”

“Sorry about that, rather shameful display,” he said with a sleepy smirk that suggested he wasn’t sorry at all and conjuring a pair of pajama-like, dark gray trousers onto himself. “What are you reading?” he asked, nodding at her book.

“This author is a popular scientist on TV. People really like him,” she explained, holding up the flyleaf to show Loki the picture on the inside. “In this one he’s answering basic questions about space, pretty much. I like to read his stuff so I can keep up with what normal people know and don’t know about my field. I sometimes get a little…enthusiastic when I’m trying to get grant money from rich assholes and forget that I’m not talking to scientists.”

Loki smiled and asked her a few more questions about these people and the types of questions her research was meant to be answering. He laughed at many of them but just sighed when she said, ‘Okay, how would you explain X?’ and simply shrugged and replied, ‘Magic.’ When she’d asked him to elaborate he’d merely said ‘Your mortal mind couldn’t possibly comprehend its mechanics’. They talked for over an hour until Loki yawned. “I haven’t been sleeping very well out on that sofa,” he said by way of an explanation. “If it’s all the same to you, I think I’ll just sleep here.”

“Go ahead. I don’t mind,” said Jane. “I mean, of course I don’t mind, it’s your bed anyway. I know you don’t like having people in here,” she continued, a little more awkwardly now that she was off her pet topic.

“Jane, before you get self-deprecating or some other mortal character flaw, know that I don’t mind having you in here in the slightest,” he said indulgently. When he asked himself where that had come from, he concluded that he was just tired but deep down he knew he had also been enjoying their conversation.

“Really?” she asked. “Even though I’m the only woman who’s ever been in here?” she asked ribbing him gently about what she regarded as his clearly paranoid personal boundary issues.

He looked thoughtful for a moment before nodding and looking her in the eye, smiling his gentler, sincere smile, and said, “Even so.”

Finally, Jane thought, it was her turn to feel a little smug. She smiled to herself while Loki maneuvered himself under the covers and lay on his back resting his eyes. Jane considered him. In this guise he looked no more dangerous than any man. It was strange to think of him as the would-be conqueror of New York. When she thought about it, this was probably the best time to get an answer out of him about that. The more times she slept with him, the more it weighed on her mind who he was, the enjoyment she was getting from him seemed improper somehow. This mischievous man in bed with her must have had a reason for the things he’d done.

“Loki?” she asked.

“Hmm?” he intoned, sleepily.

“Why did you invade New York?” He opened his eyes at this and turned to face her as she sat there looking down at him with her book propped on her knees.

“You know why. I told everyone, in Germany,” he said, closing up a little. Maybe he wasn’t as sleepy as he’d seemed.

“Because humans are puny and deserve to be slaves?” she asked skeptically. “I don’t think that’s the real reason. But if you don’t want to talk about it, fine.” He looked mollified at this and lay back again. Jane continued. “At least tell my how though. Tell me about the portal. What was the tech like?”

Seeing no harm in divulging a little of the truth now that the incident was over, Loki explained the workings of the portal to Jane in as scientific terms as he could manage. He hated to admit to himself that it was quite challenging converting the magic into science but he found himself wanting to so that she could understand him. She was likely one of the few in the universe who could, after all, and unlike everyone else who had asked him, there was no judgment in her voice, just endless curiosity. When Jane had finished typing up a last sentence in the notes she had started on her tablet, which she had reached for about a minute into his explanation, she asked him an unexpected question.

“And what about New Mexico. What was that all about?”

“That had nothing to do with the Tesseract,” he said sternly.

“No, but what-”

“I think I’d like to go to sleep now,” he said, abruptly. Jane watched as he turned onto his side away from her and pondered the mystery that was Loki’s mood swings. Not wanting to dwell on him too much and having a lot of great new information to process, she skipped back to the beginning and started to review her notes from their conversation.

 


	12. Chapter 11

When Jane woke early the next afternoon Loki was gone and her appetite had returned full force. She was starving. She called out for him then remembered that her feet worked now. She placed one onto the floor beside the bed. It was stone, of course, and very cold.

Loki entered the room a moment later and she looked up as if she’d been caught doing something she shouldn’t have been doing. “Hey, I’m starving, can I get some lunch or breakfast?”

“You could have just rung for a servant,” he said. She gave him a look as he went over and rang the bell himself.

As he neared her again she asked, “Do I have time for a shower or should I just wait?”

“For food? It awaits you, not the other way around,” he said, as if she should know that.

“Right.” She started gathering the sheet around her awkwardly.

“What are you doing?” he asked with a snicker.

“Wrapping a sheet around myself,” she said.

“For what possible reason?” he asked, flopping down onto the bed.

“Not all of us walk around naked,” she chided.

“Idunn save me from post-pagan Midgardian morals. I’ve seen it already, you know. You haven’t got any parts that I don’t know about, even sported myself on occasion.”

“WHAT?” she said, her jaw dropping. Loki appeared to think for a moment and a golden light flashed over him, slowly turning his features into those of a pale, dark haired woman whose looks were equally sultry and haughty as his own; she was wearing dark green, lacy lingerie. Jane had never been attracted to a woman before but he (she?) looked sinfully inviting. Jane backed away slowly still clutching the sheet. She fumbled behind her for the bathroom door.

"Too soon?" taunted Loki in the sophisticated voice of a British woman that matched his new look.

If Jane’s jaw could have unhinged and hit the floor it would have. Was he suggesting what she thought he was suggesting? Instead of answering she turned her back on him and marched into the bathroom.

Jane found the lever that turned on the shower without too much of a problem. She was still thinking about the female Loki she had just seen. If nothing else, this trip was certainly getting her more comfortable with her own sexuality, but maybe not so far as to try it out with a woman (knowing Loki he’d probably be able to conjure up a duplicate and have a threesome with her and his female self). Her relative passivity about sex was rapidly flying out the window. She guessed she had always been more inspired by the view of the stars from the roof of the lab than by the view of her bedroom ceiling, preferring to focus on work. She was starting to think that maybe she had discounted the importance of sex because she hadn’t really had any that was very good. It was a depressing thought that at nearly thirty she hadn’t figured that out before now, and mortifying that it was Loki who had made her realize it.

Then again, there was no putting the toothpaste back in the tube, she figured and Loki had proved more than willing to help her explore a little. She wondered if she should take this chance to figure out what she really liked, but worried that if she did she’d just be lonely and frustrated afterward when she left Asgard. The idea that she would feel the need to date more and find someone sexually compatible, which would take time away from her research, sort of annoyed her.

A dismaying thought also occurred to her. What if Thor still wanted her after all this, and they didn’t fit? Not for the first time she longed to have someone to talk to about this sort of thing and found herself missing Darcy. 

\---

Having quickly scarfed an exotic and delicious dish brought to her on a silver platter, Jane stepped out of Loki’s bedchamber into the living area about an hour later wearing a pair of faded jeans and a flannel shirt that Darcy had sent her. She found Loki (male again) sitting up, reading and when he looked up at her, his scowl was legendary.

“You can’t be serious,” he said.

“What?”

“You can’t go outside like that,” he snorted.

“What’s wrong with this?” she asked, looking down for coffee stains, Darcy’s usual reason for nixing things.

“I’ve seen what passes for fashion on Midgard, but here we have somewhat higher standards.” Loki said and added, “Especially in the palace.” He strode to the door and left without saying where he was going.

“Snob.”

Shrugging, Jane wandered the room slowly, still getting the feel of her weight resting entirely on her feet, and the sensation of being able to control them. She hadn’t been able to find her shoes. She wiggled her toes, smiling. Just walking from one side of the room to the other was glorious. It was full of books and what looked like ancient scientific gizmos. Having learned her lesson, she didn't dare touch any of them. A curse contracted from one of them might not be as curable as the one she had now. She was making her way slowly toward some doors that lead to the balcony, but didn’t get the chance to go outside.

Loki had been gone some ten minutes. He returned with what looked like half of the Liberty’s haberdashery in his arms. There was crushed velvet, silk, and damask; she could see several different shades peeking through from beneath each other. He seemed to have grabbed it all in a hurry.

“What’s all that?” said Jane, with rare enthusiasm for this sort of thing.

“Clothes.” He dumped them onto the sofa and swept an indicating arm. “Women’s clothes,” he clarified, giving her a judgmental once over.

“Well you’d know,” Jane shot back at him, starting to rummage through the pile. She didn’t catch his surprised smile.

\---

Properly attired now in the fanciest dress, shoes and necklace Jane had ever seen, let alone worn, she faced the door waiting for the Queen to enter.

“Oh, my dear you look lovely!” said Frigga, pushing in past the guards as if they weren’t even there. Trailing behind her were two men, one with a musketeer’s mustache and the other huge and hairy but otherwise indescribable. “This is Fandral,” said Frigga, pointing to the first, “and Volstagg.”

“Hi,” said Jane.

Each bowed low and grabbed one of her hands, kissing the backs. Frigga took note but didn’t say anything. Loki had disappeared upon hearing their knock and the queen looked about for him. “Jane, Fandral and Volstagg are two of Thor and Loki’s oldest and best friends. They have offered to show you around the gardens while I have a talk with my wayward son. I supposed he is around here somewhere?”

“Yeah, he should be. Um...is Thor back?”

“He is, Lady Jane, and he will join us later,” said the one called Fandral, “Shall we?” he asked offering her a brocade clad arm. She took it gladly and left Loki’s rooms for the first time in what felt like a week.

As they walked through the halls of Asgard, Jane reflected that she had never seen such a place in her life. Everything seemed to be made of gold, tinged with purple in her eyes, of course. As they walked through the palace she was constantly finding herself stopping to admire some architectural feature or bit of technology. Fandral and Volstagg were taking turns explaining things, with a heavy side of flirting. When they finally reached the garden Jane couldn’t help but gasp. 

It was a formal garden, like those in European palaces, but with a wild, open-plan garden along three of its sides, bordered by the palace on the other. She couldn’t wait to explore.

\---

“Your father wishes to have an update on Jane Foster’s progress. I suspect it has something to do with Thor’s return.” Frigga was saying to Loki as they sat on the balcony outside his rooms.

“You can tell him she’s right on schedule, he’ll have her back on Midgard and me back in my cell in no time,” said Loki, bitterly.

“You are certain she will want to leave?” the queen coaxed. Loki looked at her, eyes narrowing.

“Of course she will,” he said. “What makes you say that?”

“It’s just that she seemed so relaxed, I thought perhaps...” Frigga trailed off suggestively.

“What? That Jane Foster is becoming fond of me?” he asked, incredulous.

“Or that you were becoming fond of her?” she asked. “I saw that necklace she was wearing, one of your crafting, I know it.”

“It’s a locater. I need to know where she is in case she collapses somewhere,” he said, irritably.

“She is well accompanied, she will be fine,” she said. “By the way, I noticed no one died or sprouted boils when Fandral and Volstagg took Jane’s hands.”

“That’s-”

“Not ethical? You shouldn’t have done that, Loki. Told Thor he couldn’t touch her. I said it as a precaution and now I see you latched onto it like a cat does a mouse.”

“He deserved it,” said Loki, harshly.

Frigga got the feeling saying anything more would merely retread old territory about Loki’s sense of guilt or lack thereof. “And did Jane?” she asked instead.

“Jane is,” Loki paused here and she suspected he didn’t know what to say, which wasn’t like her second son. “She will not be the consort of a King of Asgard, no matter what I did or didn’t do. Odin would never permit it. What difference does it make how she and Thor are driven apart? If it isn’t by this, it will be by something else.”

“And you want them driven apart. Why?” she asked but he made no attempt to answer, just glared out into the gardens. Frigga just watched quietly for a while and sighed with the air of someone who was about to change the subject.

\---

They had been in the garden for over an hour, Fandral had been telling Jane outrageous stories about the names of plants and Volstagg had been showing her the ones that bore the tastiest fruits, when a large figure came toward them at a brisk pace, his red cape billowing out behind him.

“Ah, we know where we are not wanted,” said Fandral, pulling Volstagg away as Thor approached Jane. She went to him quickly, and he started to embrace her but seemed to think better of it and lowered his arms, suggesting that they sit. As he showed her to a secluded bench, Jane wondered what that had been about. For what reason would he have avoided a reunion hug?

At first, the conversation was somewhat stilted, as Jane had suspected it would be. She had almost thought Thor would avoid seeing her since he hadn’t come to visit her in Loki’s rooms. Though, it soon became obvious that Thor was, reasonably, curious about what was going on in there.

“Has Loki been treating you well?” he asked first.

“Yes, he’s been fine,” she said and his look implied she should go on. “Really, I know you’re worried but he really is fine.”

“Jane, I must urge you not to trust him,” he said and Jane didn’t know how to reply. Loki hadn’t done anything to her personally but she did take Thor’s point. After a moment of silence from her he continued. “Your... problem... it is being solved?” he asked, haltingly.

“Yes. I think we’re nearly done, actually,” she said, not knowing how to put it into words how she was feeling about what was happening to her just yet. “But let’s not talk about that. What have you been up to?” she asked and they settled in for a conversation about Vanaheim and rock monsters and peace treaties, sitting on the bench at an arm’s length. Usually, when Jane was so close to Thor, his physicality was overwhelming. In its absence, their conversation was somewhat lackluster, but she attributed that to the circumstances, which were certainly unusual. Thor seemed to be having trouble meeting her eyes so she looked out over the garden.

“This is such a beautiful place,” said Jane after a lull in the conversation.

“Yes, it has always been a favorite spot for courtiers, especially young lovers. There is a bed of night blooming flowers just over there,” said Thor.

“Where?”

“Under the balcony of Loki’s rooms,” he pointed to a balustrade on the third story of the palace.

“Oh, can he hear people out here?” she asked.

“I suspect so,” Thor laughed.

“That could be awkward...” said Jane under her breath.

“The garden is open at all hours. I sometimes come here to think...” he said, gazing at her sadly.

“Kind of like my rooftop back home?” she asked, trying to remind him of happier things.

“Indeed. I never had the chance to ask about our friends, the Lady Darcy and Erik Selvig.”

“Well,” Jane considered. That was another thing she had been forgetting in Loki’s arms, the fact that he had taken Erik’s mind and squeezed it like a lemon. “I’m actually kind of missing Darcy,” she said, pushing it out of her mind.

They chatted somewhat awkwardly for a little longer until Jane yawned. She suspected she should go in soon.

“You are tired, Jane. I will walk you back to your- Loki’s chambers,” said Thor.

“That’s okay, I think I know the way, actually. It isn’t that far,” she said, telling herself she just didn’t want it to be awkward at the door. That it had nothing to do with a potential confrontation between the two brothers.

“No, I insist,” he said and Jane didn’t know how to refuse.

She said a silent thank you to unknown gods when Volstagg reappeared in one of the hallways with a message for Thor to go speak with Odin and volunteered to take her the rest of the way.

As she changed back into her comfortable pajamas and prepared for bed, Jane thought over her conversation with Thor. They really knew so little about one another, it had been hard to come up with questions to ask him. The things that couples talk about had mostly eluded her mind, as a consequence of having had few relationships. Getting to know him wasn’t turning out to be as easy as she had hoped. Added to that was how busy he seemed to be, fighting, politicking, and meeting with his father, who was a king, no less.

She went to the mirror in the bathroom to unclasp the necklace Loki had handed her when she had returned from changing clothes. It was a pretty thing, gold and shaped from of vaguely Celtic curls that reminded her of his chambers. She hated to admit it, but talking to Loki lately had seemed a lot more natural than talking to Thor today in the gardens, but that was probably because they were sleeping together, something Jane still couldn’t make herself wholly regret. She did feel a little guilty when she realized he had told Loki about past partners and talked about her research with him (which had been a thoroughly enjoyable conversation), both things that she would normally (if once every few years could be considered normal) never bring up in a getting-to-know-you first date setting and by rights things she should probably only have been telling Thor, not his homicidal brother. In a way, she felt more guilty for talking to Loki than for sleeping with him but she doubted Thor would feel that way.

Sighing, Jane left the necklace on the marble vanity so Loki would see it and went back into the bedroom, crawling into the bed, yawning. She lay there some time thinking before the haze took her again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not that it's important but I picture the female Loki as Lady Mary from Downton Abbey, she's just got something very smug and sassy about her and I know she and TH have worked together too. Obviously, you are free to picture her however you choose.


	13. Chapter 12

Jane napped until just after dark, waking on her own after only a few hours’ sleep, a sure sign she was nearly curse-free. Entering the main room, she saw that Loki was on the balcony, sitting on the thick, stone balustrade with his back against a column, reading a slim book, a floating golden orb lighting its pages.

She grabbed a plate of fruit from the table and went out to the sitting area on the other side of the balcony. She ate slowly, he didn't seem to notice her but she knew better. Loki noticed everything, he just didn't want to look like he did. Having been outside his rooms now, she felt like the things she had done in them were all the more real. He hadn’t completely left her mind all afternoon, especially when she had been talking to Thor. She could only assume that his not hugging her had something to do with her relationship to Loki, even if it was a medical one. Of course, there was a nagging voice telling her that it wasn’t strictly a medical relationship that had her sleeping with the god of mischief, she could easily have stuck to letting him get her off in other ways but she had allowed it to continue, too intrigued by the physical feelings he evoked to stop her ‘scientific’ curiosity.

She finished eating and stood, going nearer to the edge of the balcony, leaning out over the railing and looking at the night sky. Her motions caught Loki’s eye and he looked up at her but said nothing. "I never got a chance to thank you for getting me those clothes," she said, somewhat awkwardly.

"It was no trouble," he replied.

"Well, even so, they were fancier than anything I ever wore on Earth," she said.

"I can't believe you dress that way on a daily basis." he said, eyes falling to the jeans and sweatshirt she had put on to come outside.

"What, in jeans?" she said. "This is what I wear to work."

"When you first arrived, you were much better attired,” he said, conversationally. “I'll admit to some fondness for the things most Midgardian women seemed to wear, in New York anyway," he added that last bit, seemingly heedless to how tacky it was to mention the city he'd caused nearly seven billion dollars’ worth of damage to. "Why weren't you wearing your jeans that day?"

"You mean the skirt?" She thought for a moment, debating over how much to say. "Well…When I went to see the anomaly where I got the curse... Before that, I mean, I was kind of… on a date," she said, sheepishly.

Loki’s reaction was immediate. He dropped down from the balustrade and came closer to her, smiling a not totally unpleasant smile. "Jane Foster!," he said, with mock incredulity. "Here I thought you'd been pining away just like my dear brother, wandering halls alone, gazing into the sky and otherwise quite put off your mead," he said, playfully.

"I don't think we really drink a lot of mead where I'm from," she said, turning to face him and smiling ruefully. "But that's not the point. I wasn't _not_ pining. I was just trying something out. It was a set-up, someone at the university library knew a guy and thought it would take my mind off Thor."

"Did it?"

"In the ten minutes I was there? No," she said, decisively.

"It's only taken me ten minutes several times," he teased. Jane blushed but smiled in spite of herself.

"That wasn't you taking Thor off my mind, that was you taking Thor off my body," she said, instantly realizing what that sounded like when she saw Loki beaming. "I mean… You know what I mean," she said, hastily.

She turned away again and he drew nearer, standing right behind her now. He swept the hair from one side back over her shoulder. She could feel his breath on her neck as he bent to her ear and said softly, "Nevertheless, an intriguing image."

She let him play with her hair for a few moments, not saying anything, just looking out over the gardens which seemed to be empty of lovers and brooders alike.

“Did you enjoy the gardens today?” he asked, startling her.

“Oh, yeah! They’re gorgeous. I can’t believe how amazing they are. There sure are a lot of winter blooming flowers here.”

“Yes, it is one of the perks on being in the Realm Eternal,” he mused, then said quietly, “And you saw Thor, I understand.”

“Yeah, I got a chance to talk to him a little,” she said. “Nothing bad though. I didn’t say anything about us. This,” she corrected quickly.

He merely made a “Mmm” noise, secretly pleased, and shifted his hands down to rub her shoulders.

“You don’t have to do that,” said Jane, shrugging a little.

“What if I want to?” he asked, carrying on. While Jane had been sitting pretending to concentrate on eating, he had been pretending to concentrate on reading, thinking about how she had responded lately when they were in bed. It was encouraging and he found himself wanting to push her even further. It had been a calculated risk, asking her to watch him, but well worth the reward. He told himself that her prompting about taking her mind off Thor wasn’t part of his motivation. “It’s about that time of the evening after all,” he said in a low voice.

“Well, I guess that’s true,” she said, a little flustered as he bent down and started to kiss her neck. Impeded by the hood of her sweatshirt, he vanished it leaving her in her bra. “Hey! People can see up here!”

“There’s no one down there,” he said dismissively, taking her arms in his hands and guiding her hands to rest on the balustrade, instructing her to grip it before going back to massaging her, moving lower now. The massaging felt so good, especially when he got to the small of her back where the curse was still in place. A familiar tingling feeling rose in her. Loki was kneading in just the right way and he vanished her jeans too.

Jane was now breathing heavily. It was dark she knew, but they would be silhouetted by the lights in Loki’s chambers, she turned to say something but he positioned her back where he wanted her. “Don’t move your hands,” he rumbled into her ear, it was a command and Jane was startled to find herself obeying it without question. The stone was cold and even though the balcony was warmed by a spell, she could feel gooseflesh forming on her arms.

Loki took her hips in his hands and dragged her back a pace, pushing down on the small of her back. She felt exposed, with her ass jutting out, tilted up high. He took off her underwear manually, sliding them slowly down her legs. She felt the cool air chill the wetness between her thighs and she balked, trying to cover up, but Loki gave her hips a warning squeeze and she turned to stare at him in confusion and arousal, wondering what he was up to. He stood behind her now, and backed her hips into his which, by now, she was not surprised to feel, were also naked. She felt him long and hard against her ass. He was subtly grinding her against him and she could feel the wetness growing between her legs.

She looked back out over the dark garden, trying to calm her breathing as he spread her legs and placed the tip of his cock inside her, “Wait!” said Jane, turning again to look at him.

“Don’t like being taken from behind, Jane?” he asked pleasantly, pushing in slowly.

"I...That's...Thor…" she panted out and Loki’s grip tightened momentarily as she said his brother's name and he thrust in up to the hilt. “Thor said people walk in the gardens at night," she said through a groan.

"Haven't I told you it doesn't matter?” he murmured into her ear as Jane continued to whimper. He gripped her to him with a hand low on her belly, remaining fully inside her and rocking the two of them. “You can be as loud as you like, Jane. Let them hear! Let them hear what I can do to you. No one here is judging you," he said, harshly, his slow pace and her reticence stretching his patience.

" _I'm_ judging me, alright? Can we please go inside?" she pleaded, gripping the balustrade with white fists. He seemed to take a moment to think about her request.

“And if we go inside, will you do as I say?” he questioned in a low voice.

While she considered he froze inside her not moving a muscle. She desperately wanted to continue, the new angle was pushing him against the front wall of her channel, adding wonderful pressure. But could she bring herself to do this in the open air? She was no exhibitionist, no matter how many of her buttons Loki seemed to push effortlessly. But what would he do, if given the power of her obeisance? She knew it couldn’t be anything so bad, since the whole point of this was her pleasure, it seemed like no hard thing to say yes, and if it got them inside, she decided, it was worth it. “I will,” she said quietly. He began pulling out slowly. “I just don’t like _this_ ,” she said, as if trying to explain.

His cock dropped out of her and he turned her toward him giving her a narrowed look. "I was right before, you don't know what you like,” he said irritably. “And I don’t know yet either, but I _will_ find out," he said, a wicked look in his eyes as he grabbed her by the arm and practically dragged her into the living area. He positioned her facing a low, wide sofa and stood behind her holding her arm in a hard grip. “Get on your knees,” he said, roughly.

“I don’t-”

“You agreed, Jane,” he reminded her, lightly pushing the back of one knee with a bare toe.

She sunk onto her knees, finding the rug much softer than she had anticipated.

“Now,” said Loki, vanishing her bra then putting both hands square in the middle of her back and shoving her front half onto the sofa cushion, “Where was I?” he asked, panting. She felt him tugging her back to meet his hips again and the action pulled her nipples across the woven brocaded surface beneath her causing subtle friction that was delicious. She let out a satisfied ‘ah’ and could almost feel Loki smirking behind her. He was kneeling between her legs and returning his cock to her channel, holding her arms down at her sides on the sofa and hovering over her as he thrust in all the way.

The pressure was back against her inner front wall and Jane groaned loudly, not being able to help herself. “L-” she started to say his name, to tell him how good it was but he had pulled out and was thrusting back in hard, turning the sound into a high pitched moan as he hit just the right spot inside of her. He repeated the action then stilled, coming to rest his torso on her back. He was so tall and his chest seemed to surround her, the contact was electric and Jane could smell his leathery scent all around her with every desperate breath she took. He cradled her chin in his hand.

“How does that feel, Jane,” he asked, out of breath. Was he serious, she thought, did he want an answer from her in this state? She nodded her head as much as possible, feeling his soft hair that had fallen down into her face. “I couldn’t hear that,” he said, taunting her.

“Good,” she said quickly, trying not to sound desperate, “So good.”

“I thought so,” he said and turned her head so that her cheek was pressed into the couch.

He rose up again and began to fuck her in earnest. She moaned feeling the cool fabric of the sofa beneath her and his hot body against her thighs. He placed a hand on her lower back and secured her in place, letting his quick, hard thrusting and the side of the sofa put pressure on her clit. Jane had never let anyone do this and she understood now what he had meant by when he’d said ‘take’ in the bath. This was being taken. A few moments of this were all she needed and Jane found herself coming, crying out loudly in pleasure and grabbing for one of the pillows to have something to clench her arms around as he whispered the spell and breaking the curse on her channel. She gave an experimental squeeze with her inner muscles and was gratified to hear a low groan from behind her as Loki came inside her, unprepared for the sensation. He rested his body upon hers again, this time the weight of his top half fully on her, trapping her into the couch, but she was so glad to have made him lose control she thought she could easily endure an elephant on her chest.

“Minx,” he muttered into her ear as he caught his breath.

After a few moments Loki pulled up and off her, sitting behind her on the floor and turning to rest his back against the sofa. He pulled her down to sit in his lap and she could see his face, shining with sweat and slightly pink from exertion. She knew she probably didn’t look any better but found it wasn’t hard to meet his eyes now that they had both been similarly compromised by passion.

“Did you like that?” he asked, genuinely curious.

“Yes,” she replied honestly, not bothering to hide this time.

“Then let’s find out what else you like,” he said in a sultry voice, maneuvering her over his lap so that she was straddling him. She could feel his softened, wet cock smearing between their bellies as he pulled her up to meet him for a kiss. To her mind, the sensation was filthy and she tried to fight him, to stop this so she could ask him to clean them up but his hand on the back of her neck was strong and he was pulling her to him, lips insistent. “You’ll like what I have in mind, Jane,” he whispered.

Loki reached a hand between them and pushed her up so she was kneeling over his thighs. For once she was taller and he had his lips on one nipple instantly and a hand on her other breast kneading it softly. His other hand began to stroke between her legs, their combined wetness coating his long fingers. The sensation began to re-stoke the fire in her and she was breathing shallowly again. He soon had one whole breast in his mouth, laving the nipple with his hot tongue. She clutched around his shoulders and let her head loll side to side.

Slowly he added the other two fingers below and drummed them over her folds softly. He slipped one finger inside and her muscles clamped down on it as he continued his work on her sweet spot, his other arm steadying her hips. She whined as he slowly drew the digit in and out and he asked, “What do you want, Jane?”

“More,” she said with no hesitation, after being filled by his cock only minutes before, one finger was not nearly enough. He added another and started swirling her clit with his thumb.

“What do you need, Jane?”

She squeezed her inner muscles around him, keening, trying to make them feel bigger. It wasn’t enough and she whispered, “More.”

He added the third finger and pumped a few times, asking “Is that good, Jane?”

She was clamping down around him, whimpering and she begged, “Yes, please. I need-”

“More?” he cut her off, rumbling into her chest. She nodded, steadying her chin on his head as he kissed her chest and clavicles. There was a brief respite as his fingers left her completely and he wrapped his arm around her backside. She couldn’t tell what he was doing down there until his fingers were on her again from the opposite angle. He rubbed and slid them over her folds, soaking all five digits. Jane’s whole body shivered as he entered her with two fingers, sliding them in to the knuckles. Unexpectedly she felt his thumb pressing against her back entrance and she raised herself, as if trying to get off of him, “No,” she whimpered, hazily.

“Trust me, Jane,” he said in a low, enticing voice and clamped down on her hips preventing her from moving them. The sensation of him adding his thumb, penetrating her back entrance made her whole body quiver and she moaned again. “Remember this, Jane. Remember that you liked this, liked me doing this to you,” he whispered.

Her cheeks were burning red and she was panting, trying to catch her breath but the sensation was too good, too full, he was pinching the barrier between her entrances making her feel impossibly tight and she came hard, her juices flooding over his fingers. His other hand moved finally from its place steadying her hip to the small of her back and she could feel it, kneading and pushing her toward him so that her mound ground against his abs as she felt the pulse of her contractions around his fingers. He was whispering the counter-curse for the small of her back but she hardly heard it, exhaustion hitting her in a wave. She slumped against him and he stood, laying her on the sofa and conjuring a blanket over her. She was asleep before he even left the room.


	14. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here is the latest installment, thank you all for you very kind comments and kudos!

After tucking Jane onto the couch as best he could with a now raging urge to fuck her again settling in his loins, Loki bolted for the shower like a teenager. There was no denying now his attraction and lust for Jane Foster and hopefully no denying her reciprocation.

He had even thought for the briefest of seconds when he had her bent over the sofa that she had started to say his name and in that moment had realized how much he wanted her to. He imagined it now as the hot water poured onto his shoulders and he rubbed and squeezed his cock. Her voice would have been high and feminine like a bell, and desperate for him, he knew it.

But it was an image she had conjured, that of him removing Thor from her mind and body that did it for him in the end. He could imagine it in vivid detail, the fucking and the fighting and Jane saying his name. A few seconds of this were all it took before he was coming under his hand as he rested his head against the cold stone of the shower stall to clear it.

He reflected for a few moments before starting to wash. He’d been selfish tonight, wanting more than she had wanted to give. He’d been possessive of her pleasure, even left the doors open wanting everyone to hear what he alone was capable of doing to her. But to hear what, exactly? Jane might moan and sigh but did that mean anything? Something told him that If only he could hear his name slip from her lips, he felt like he would know how she felt. Since realizing he liked her and was enjoying her company, a creeping tendril of hope had entered his mind lately: could all her bluster and blushing mean she liked him too?

The idea of her talking to Thor for the several hours in the gardens today infuriated him. He'd led her to the sofa not to punish her for it but to remind her of the things she'd discovered in his bed without a thought for the god of thunder. He'd left the doors to the balcony wide open, knowing she wouldn't notice, almost hoping that Thor would choose that night to brood there as he had in the past. Before he found out that Thor hadn’t bedded Jane, he had been telling himself that whatever the sex had been like between them, he had absolutely not been competing with his brother. Now that he knew, he realized that he had been and still was, even if it was only Jane's imaginings of Thor that he was competing with.

He climbed into the bed later still pondering the situation, now irked. He should have far more pressing things on his mind, especially since his time out of the dungeons was coming to an end. It occurred to him during the night when his thoughts turned to plotting his escape from Asgard that he was imagining ways of taking Jane with him. Perhaps, he thought, he could offer to escort her to the Bifrost and take her hostage somehow, cloaking the two of them and making his escape. When this had occurred, he knew sentiment was getting him into trouble but still he preferred to blame it on his libido. All in all, Loki spent a rather fretful night, dropping off to sleep only near the morning.

\---

When she awoke on the sofa it was hours later and Jane sensed an early morning sort of glow from the windows as she slowly became more aware. She shifted and felt a cool slickness between her thighs and ass cheeks and realized that Loki hadn't cleaned her the way he usually did. More awake now, she squeezed her inner muscles experimentally, feeling a satisfying burn from where he had pinched her between her entrances. Remembering his words now, her clit throbbed and felt like it was doubling in size.

She rose from the couch and held the blanket around herself, having no idea where all of the clothes Loki vanished from her ended up, and entered the bedroom, bypassing the bed where he lay sprawled and entering the bathroom. Her mind couldn't help but replay the events of the previous night. She had let Loki do things to her she had never let anyone do before. He had been aggressive and rough and yet she had enjoyed it immensely. She blushed thinking about how good the things he had done felt and quickly turned on the taps for a cool shower.

Afterward, she put on a robe and rang the meal bell experimentally, and waited for breakfast to arrive from a servant, who came into the bedroom from another fake wall, red faced and eyeing the floor. Jane took the large tray from her immediately and thanked her, letting her get out quickly. No matter what Loki said about this being normal, she knew she would never get used to it.

She set the tray down in the living area and munched some toast with berry jam as she thought about Loki and Thor. More and more she was sure of her decision not to tell Thor what exactly was happening in Loki’s chambers. She knew the day would come but couldn’t face it yet, or more likely, couldn’t bear to imagine his face when he found out. She was full to bursting wanting to talk about it to someone though which was why, when she noticed a note that had been placed on the breakfast try, a smile lit up her face and she raced to the bedroom, going to the bed and lightly tapping Loki on the arm. He made no move or any other indication of having noticed so she pushed his shoulder a little harder. “Loki,” she said.

He made a noise like a dog in front of a fireplace, warm and content. “Loki,” she repeated, louder.

“What is it?” he mumbled.

“Look, breakfast is here and there’s a note that says my friend is coming. I don’t want you naked when she gets here,” said Jane.

“Then let her stay in the receiving room,” he said, grabbing for a pillow to put over his face.

“Oh, come on, I don’t need this to be any more complicated than it already is, please,” she nearly whined.

Loki opened his eyes fully and looked up at her. She did look desperate. He liked it. “Only because you beg so prettily, Jane,” he said with a sly smile.

She blushed, remembering how she’d begged him only last night, and turned to go, muttering her thanks under her breath and returning to breakfast. She heard him in the shower as she polished off some more strange fruits and spreads for the delicious bread that accompanied them. She returned to the bedroom to change clothes only to find Loki there, naked, of course, and dripping wet. He was placing the necklace she had worn the day before into an ornately carved wooden box. She averted her eyes, taking her little pile of clothes into the bathroom.

\---

Darcy Lewis stood in front of two huge ebony doors carved with intricate and vaguely Celtic patterns. On either side of her were two heavily armed men who stood completely silent. She knocked as loudly as she dared. After a minute or so no one had answered and she looked from one guard to the other.

"Umm...Should I knock again? Is that rude here?"

The guard on the right snorted. "You might knock a little harder, judging by the noises coming out of there lately, I doubt they heard you."

"What's that supposed to-"

The door opened wide, interrupting her. She was suddenly face to face with a very wet and disheveled, dark haired man, who was only half wearing a green bathrobe. He was shrugging into it still as he addressed her.

"Who are you?" he demanded.

"Who am I? Dude, who the hell are you? I thought this was Jane's room," she said, eyeing him up and down, taking in his sharply cut jaw, lean but muscled chest, and elegant feet.

"Bother! You're that friend of hers, come inside," he said, grabbing her by the arm and pulling her over the threshold. "And this is _not_ Jane Foster's room" he said emphatically, closing the door harder than was strictly necessary and walking off. He disappeared through a large archway as Jane entered from it.

"Oh my god, Darcy!" said Jane, running to her and hugging her. "I am so glad to see you!" But Darcy's attention was still on the archway behind which it was fairly obvious lay a bedroom. When Jane released her she pointed vaguely toward it.

"Wait, wait, Jane. Was that—No way! Shit Jane! What were you thinking?" she spluttered but then changed tones, mind drifting back to what she had just seen. “I mean, I know what you were thinking…”

"Keep your voice down," Jane stage whispered, pulling Darcy with her to the small sitting area outside on the balcony. They sat on a chaise and Jane started to explain again. "I wasn't thinking, I was sleeping. Remember? Thor said you saw the whole thing, I passed out, he brought me here, and the next thing I know I'm in some a strange bedroom being stared at by a frigid doctor with Loki's hand up my skirt!"

"I was so worried about you," said Darcy. "Thor didn't get much of a message through and when I got here he was rushing off somewhere. And that Heimdall guy? He might see everything but he's not big on explaining it. I didn't know what to think. And then…" she pointed inside, "that whole situation. Next time, I could use some warning for half-naked Norse gods."

"I guess I have a lot of explaining to do." said Jane, sighing.

"You think?" said Darcy, sarcastically, and there was a moment of silence. "He's kind of…" she drifted, looking towards the door.

"Pale, I know," said Jane, looking for something neutral to say.

"That's not remotely what I was thinking."

"Right, I guess I'll start with when I first realized where I was," said Jane, ever practical.

"Wait a sec, I think I'm going to need some mead for this. That's Viking booze, right?" asked Darcy.

When Jane balked at the hour, Darcy scoffed and said, “Dude, it’s like 5:30 on Earth.” Shrugging, Jane showed her the never ending supply of mead and they settled in for a talk on the balcony.

At the end of her explanation, Darcy was quiet for a few seconds before saying, "Man, I wish I’d known, I would have brought you my vibrator. Or I guess it probably wouldn’t work here."

"That’s Hogwarts you’re thinking of, but thanks for the thought," she Jane, genuinely.

A servant approached then and handed Jane a message on crisp parchment, bowed and waited for Jane to read it and nod before retreating.

“Okay, that was weird,” said Darcy.

“I know, right?” asked Jane. “But Loki says it’s totally normal. Anyway, the Queen wants us to have lunch with her.”

“Oh, snap! Seriously?”

“She’s really nice,” said Jane. “I think you’ll like her. Plus I’d love to get out of this room. Even if I do have to be accompanied everywhere, it seems.” She had a tired look on her face now and Darcy found herself wanting to try to cheer her up a little.

"Yeah, hopefully not by your guard detail, they’re a little snarky," she said.

"What do you mean?" asked Jane.

"Well, when I knocked they gave me this look and said something I didn't really catch at the time but now I'm pretty sure it meant 'Oh, those two, they fuck like rabbits'." She mimicked in an annoyed but comical voice.

"What?!" spluttered Jane.

"Well… I mean, you do," said Darcy, wincing a little.

"No we don't and that's not the point. The point is what if Thor heard them say stuff like that!" she said, miserably.

"It would explain why he huffed off when we ran into each other on the Rainbow Bridge and how he barely said hi," concluded Darcy.

"Maybe that's why that servant was so embarrassed this morning! They must be gossiping like crazy back there. Oh my god!” Jane hid her head in her hands and started breathing deeply.

Darcy just patted her awkwardly on the shoulder for a while until she thought of something to distract Jane again. They talked for a while about her research, the flat in London and the antics of Ian the Intern of whose existence Jane had only the briefest of memories. After a while, Jane stood up, thinking they should prepare for lunch with the queen, and they went inside, Darcy excited by the prospect of wearing Asgardian finery. Jane noticed Loki had left and was silently thankful.

\---

Having made himself scarce from his chambers, his guard detail following as usual, Loki made his way to the library for some relaxation. He told himself that he merely needed fresh air and a change of surroundings but he also knew that he needed to be away from Jane Foster. It was a strange combination of aroused and angry with himself that now settled in on him when he thought of her. While he would have loved to eavesdrop on her conversation with her friend, somehow it seemed rude which wouldn’t normally have bothered him but Loki didn’t think he could restrain himself from using anything he might learn in their conversation, which would inevitably out him to Jane. In this way, he thought, it was really self-preservation that drove him out of his rooms, not any respect for her privacy.

He’d stolen the message that had come with the breakfast tray but it merely said that a person called Darcy was to be arriving later that day and that the Queen would like to dine with Jane and her as soon as was convenient. This annoyed him further, that two mortals should be allowed to share a meal with his own mother when he could not. Not that she was his mother, Loki forcibly reminded himself as he stalked down the halls of the palace.

It had been somewhat pushed to the back of his mind since having entered into this arrangement that he wasn’t Asgardian at all. Living in his old quarters and being treated by Jane as an Asgardian, he could almost forget the inconvenient truth of his parentage. He assumed Jane didn’t know what he really was. If what she had said was true, he reasoned, Thor had hardly had time to tell her, so it probably wasn’t much of a concern. He wondered if he should tell her himself but dismissed the idea, it really wasn’t her damn business. But there was also a nagging doubt in his mind as to her reaction.

He spent the day in the library in his old favorite sections, distracting himself as best he could and left it, returning to his chambers a little more relaxed.

\---

Lunch with the queen had been a traditional Asgardian affair with lots of courses and food for more than twice their number. Darcy had loved it and Jane had to admit she was having a good time reminiscing about Thor’s fall to Earth with her and his mother. (“To be honest, he was a little bonkers when we first met” Darcy had said of Thor, making the queen laugh out loud.) She noticed Frigga carefully avoided mention of Loki and things went smoothly. She even invited Darcy to stay in Asgard until Jane recovered, seeing how the other girl’s presence brought a smile to Jane’s face, now bereft of the lingering worry that had been there in their previous conversations.

Afterward, Jane and Darcy set out to explore the gardens again, still not entirely being allowed to go by themselves, a guard was sent to watch them from a discreet distance. Jane felt like they all thought she might collapse at any given moment, which made her wonder just how bad she had looked when she first arrived.

When they had done exploring, they sat in the shade of a large tree and Darcy sighed a few times and commented on the same flower twice which made Jane think she was working up to something.

“So this is Asgard, huh. This place is nice. Lotta gold. Guess they can afford Thor’s appetite,” she said. “…Where has he been during all of this?" asked Darcy.

“Vanaheim, there’s some war there, but he got back yesterday,” said Jane. “I saw him here in the garden but I don't know. It’s kind of… weird between us. Of course that makes sense if he thinks—knows—what Loki and I doing. I didn't say anything about it at the time though… Which means he probably thinks I’m hiding it from him,” she said, the words tumbling out.

“What is Loki even like?” asked Darcy.

"I don't know… he's…” said Jane, thinking about how to answer. “He’s not like anyone. He's like himself," said Jane. “Totally not like he was on the news… well maybe the arrogant thing,” she corrected.

“Yeah, brothers, huh? They might have nothing else in common but they do have that,” said Darcy.

“What do mean? Thor wasn’t arrogant,” said Jane, not noticing that she was referring to him in the past tense.

“Uh, yeah he was, he was rude and abrupt and he smashed ceramics,” said Darcy.

“Yeah, but then he changed,” said Jane, more sure of herself now.

“…And then you knew him for like five minutes,” prompted Darcy. “Don’t get me wrong, I liked him in a weird, Asgardian fish-out-of-water way, and he was fun to have around but I don’t know that we ever really met the real Thor,” she said.

Jane was quiet for a while, thinking about the moratorium on talking about Thor she had instituted when he hadn’t come to see her after the New York incident. She got the feeling Darcy had been holding her tongue for a while now. She was also thinking about her conversation with him in the garden. “Well, I guess there is a part of me that wonders whether I really know him that well. But I want to get to know him. He hasn’t come to see me today though. Of course, he seems really busy,” she said, trying to sound like a reasonable girlfriend would.

“Yeah, Loki’s technically in prison, he has all the time in the world for you,” Darcy joked.

Jane laughed in spite of herself and putting her head in her hands, said, “What am I going to do?"

"You want me to lend you my iPod? I’ve got some Marvin Gaye on it," said Darcy with a sly smile.

"I think Loki is getting lucky well enough without Marvin Gaye's help."

"Hmmm…"

"What?" asked Jane, looking up.

"No, nothing."

"What?"

"I… kinda meant for Thor," said Darcy.

Jane had no reply for this other than a sharp intake of breath and looked out over the gardens, depressed.

When they went inside, Darcy walked Jane back to Loki’s rooms and when they reached the door, bereft of its usual guards, Darcy said, “Do you mind if I ask what exactly you and Loki are doing, Jane?”

“You know what,” Jane said firmly, turning back to her with a warning look, half in the doorway.

“I mean, what is it like? Is it good?” she asked and then quickly added, “I mean, I guess it has to be if he’s supposed to be giving you orgasms but…”

“Yes, okay. He’s good,” said Jane, clearly not wanting to elaborate. No matter how much Jane trusted Darcy, there was still no way she felt comfortable enough talking to her about what she and Loki got up to in bed, particularly after what she had let him do to her the previous night. Unfortunately, there was only one person she could talk to about that.

“I Just meant it could be hormonal or something.”

“ _What_ could be hormonal?” asked Jane, not sure what she was implying.

Darcy just gave her a skeptical, sidelong look and said, “Goodnight, Jane.”

 


	15. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As you can probably tell, I have gone back to a once a week updating schedule. I am having a little trouble writing the ending and so am trying to give myself a little more time to get it right. I have planned 20 chapters total. Hope you enjoy!

When Jane closed the heavy door to Loki’s chambers, she turned around and rested against it. Darcy had been doing a great job distracting her all day but now, back in the room, her eyes came to rest on the sofa she had slept on the previous night, the site of her shameful display of want. She remembered the feel of Loki, roughly pumping into her, remembered his strong hands yanking her hips back to meet his. She sat on the brocaded sofa, placing a palm on its cool surface, the pattern soft and intricate. She pictured herself kneeling beside it, Loki’s arm around her waist anchoring her against his chest, grinding her against him. She’d felt more wanton than she’d ever felt before. No man had ever made her forget herself the way he had.

“Are you well, Jane?” said a voice from behind her. She turned to see Loki had entered the chambers and was nearing her. She hadn’t heard him come in and was startled. “Reminiscing?” he asked, smirking.

“Yeah, I guess so,” she replied, sighing.

“Well, if you need me to jog your memory about anything, I’d be only too happy,” he said, giving her a lascivious look from the cabinet where the mead was kept and pouring some for himself.

"Why did I let you do that to me?" she asked quietly. He looked around at her again and seemed to consider her for a moment before filling a second goblet. He brought both to the coffee table and sat down next to her.

“Because you knew you would enjoy it. That I could make you enjoy it," he said, pushing the mead closer to her. She picked it up and drank. The liquid was rich and warming, it settled over her like a blanket, comforting her.

"But why did I behave like that? Am I a slut?” she asked and then rushed to continue, looking at him with almost pleading in her eyes. “You were pushing me with what you said, asking me what I wanted and I just couldn't say no," she said.

"I had a suspicion that my tongue could turn you on in other ways,” he said, slyly. He waited for her to take another drink and put the goblet down before saying, “And that was only the beginning."

A questioning looked filled Jane's face when she looked up at him and he smiled knowing he had her, putting an arm around her shoulders. “What do you mean?” she asked, slightly worried.

“I’ve been thinking about how to stimulate your mind, Jane,” he said, running a fingertip from her neck to her temple. “And since we’ve already established that language has the power to arouse you…” he said, nuzzling her neck. She gasped.

“Are you saying you want to…’talk dirty’?” She blushed at the thought, turning beet red for reasons that had nothing to do with the mead. She had only just come in from seeing Darcy and wasn’t sure where this was going but she felt like she needed a little more decompression time before this line of conversation continued, but once again, Loki strode on with it, either oblivious or just unobliging. “I don’t think I’m even capable of that,” she said, flat out.

“You don’t have to be. Once again, I’ll do all the work, or _thinking_ I suppose, all you have to do is react.”

“But what types of things would you say? I mean, usually talking dirty means I feel dirty, I would never do anything that people say when they do talk that way…I’ve heard,” she finished, thinking about a conversation she and Darcy had had well before they’d really known each other long enough to have had such a conversation and which had embarrassed Jane intensely, she fidgeted remembering it even now.

"That's the whole point of dirty talk, Jane,” Loki coaxed, “That the words are so filthy they make you squirm. Your body reacts to a well-chosen word just as to a well-placed touch." At this he tilted her chin toward him and continued, "It doesn’t even have to be something you would ever do. For instance,” he paused, looking her over. “Would you let me lick melted chocolate off your tits?" he asked, emphasizing that last word.

"Um...Do you even have chocolate here?"

"No, I hate to admit it, but that was one of the perks of Midgard," he said, somewhat ruefully. “But that wasn’t the point of that test. You’re reacting with your logical brain, assuming that I’m asking a real question. It’s really a hypothetical question, you’re just supposed to say ‘yes’ without really thinking about it, so I’ll carry on talking and getting you off.”

“Oh,” said Jane, having never even considered the mechanics of such things. “So, saying yes won’t make you think I’d be willing to do something you say?”

“Well, not necessarily” he chuckled, not able to stop himself. “If your body reacts…” At Jane’s skeptical and warning look he said, “I can promise I won’t _do_ anything this time, that I’ll keep it strictly to words and things we’ve already done.”

“Wait, this time?” said Jane. “Are we doing this now?”

“Why not?” asked Loki, genuinely confused.

“I don’t know, I just didn’t think…” she started.

“You think too much. Has anyone ever told you that?” asked Loki.

“Yeah. Donald,” she said, forcefully.

“Well then, I shall endeavor to erase him from your mind,” said Loki, silently finishing in his own mind, as _I have attempted to erase Thor._ “And no, Jane, I’ll never think you’re a 'slut',” he said, rising from the sofa and offering her his hand which she took automatically, heart beginning to race a little. To Jane, it was a gentlemanly gesture, irreconcilable to the thing they were about to do, but she followed him nonetheless.

“So where do you want to start?” she asked when they had entered the bedroom. He sat her down on the corner end of the bed with one leg on either side. He straddled it behind her and sat down himself, vanishing her clothes in one wave us his hand. Clearly he was ready to jump right in.

“Shall we talk about last night?” he asked softly, pulling her body back and slowly flipping her hair over his shoulder where it mingled with his and aligning her bare back with his torso, trapping her there with his hands covering her breasts which he began kneading.

“Uh, okay,” she replied, feeling exposed again in the cool room.

“You liked what I did to you, you told me so,” he said in a low, sultry voice, his breath hot on her neck.

"Yeah and apparently the guards outside the door could hear us. It's like a foot thick!" she said, not quite in the mood yet.

"You _were_ very loud, my dear," he said, nuzzling her neck, and carrying on slowly, “Relax Jane, remember what it felt like, having me on top of you, inside of you.” As he said the words, she relaxed into his warmth, she was picturing it now and it was intensely arousing. She shut her eyes to get rid of the distractions in the room and let his voice insinuate itself into her ear. “You liked me being rough. No one has ever been as rough with you as I was, have they, Jane?" he nearly growled the words out and suddenly she was completely in the moment again. Her thighs could feel him behind her and, even though he was clothed now, the sensation of hot leather was close enough to the real thing. He was still kneading one breast but had moved his other hand further down to circle the thin skin above her mound. “I have plans for you, Jane,” he said, skimming the hand further down and beginning to play at her entrance, "The things we've done in the last few days...I've barely begun to ravage you.” He sheathed two slick fingers into her with ease and she moaned. He crooked them forward, stimulating the spot just inside her inner front wall and asked, in a gravelly voice, "Have I told you how much I loved it when you squeezed me with your tight cunt?”

Jane shook in pleasure. Usually she hated that word but Loki made it sound shamefully enticing, like he knew just what to do with said portion of her anatomy, like it gave him the right to use that word with abandon. She keened and clenched, giving him what he wanted.

"You whimper so beautifully, Jane," he whispered. She was still shaking under his hands which were now twisting her breast harder and driving faster into her below. “You were quite vocal last night, Jane.” His lips were at her ear again and he was tugging on the lobe with his teeth, pausing only to command, "Tell me what you want right now. Be specific. Be pornographically pedantic." 

"I don't _know_ what I want, I just want more!" she pleaded.

He slid a third finger inside her and said, “More. Tell me more.”

She couldn’t take it, and opted for the truth, it had been in the back of her mind since she’d woken on the couch, wet between her thighs. She clenched her eyes shut and said, breathlessly, "I've been throbbing all day, feeling your hands on me. Even though I knew they weren't there."

This revelation drew a large intake of breath from Loki whose lips left her ear to kiss her neck briefly where it met her shoulder. He pulled himself off her and knelt before her on the floor, grabbing around her hips, placing his hands on the small of her back to keep her upright. He pulled her forward so that she almost felt like she would fall off the bed, and held her tightly. She braced herself with her feet and grabbed his shoulders. She looked down at him and caught him eyeing her between the legs, he looked up and said, “Oh Jane, your lips are huge… Rosy and beautiful, ready for me." She gasped, eyes locked on his and he smiled. "You're so wet, Jane, I could drink from you like a goblet," he said and ran a finger through the wetness in her folds. He looked her in the eye, smiling. "I love going down on you," he said.

'Hmm' was her only response and she was wearing a furrowed look that told Loki this wasn’t her preferred expression.

"Fine, then,” he said, grinning, “I love eating you out."

"Oh, that one, I know I don't like," she said, faintly whining as he grasped her hips and repositioned her again. She was clutching at him desperately now, wrinkling the fabric at his shoulders.

He looked her square in the eye and said, "Well, whatever you want to call it, Jane, you're going to love it when I fuck you with my tongue."

She gasped and he knew he'd hit the right one, and started doing just what he'd said he would.

He slowly tortured her with his tongue for several minutes while she clutched him folding herself down over him with the top half of her body and he could feel her long hair tickling his back through the cloth of his shirt.

To Jane, he seemed to be taking his sweet time, never giving her enough, and she bending and twisting trying to put more pressure on her clit. He pulled back for air and she let out a frustrated cry, cradling his neck, trying to make him look at her, to convey her need. He leaned back away from her and pulled his shirt off quickly returning to his place kneeling between her legs with his hands on her thighs. He was just as breathless as Jane when he said, "I want to do depraved things to you...” Loki whispered, running his hands up to clutch her sides just below her aching breasts. “Perhaps I would take you on a banquet table, for everyone to see,” he said fiercely. “There would be mead, I could pour it on you and lick it off," he said with a ravenous look in his eyes as he raked them over her exposed body.

He stood, straddled the bed behind her again and returned his fingers to her core making her shut her eyes and moan again in satisfaction. He cradled her neck in his other hand and growled, “Keep your eyes open, I like to see the lust in them.”

The combination of his voice and hands and heat around her was making Jane dizzy, she could feel her ears burning, her head felt heavy but he didn’t stop, just continued to fuck her channel with his fingers. He steadied her head upright again and she looked up to see he had conjured a mirror in front of them and she could see herself surrounded by his bare, sinewy arms. She gasped as she watched her own breasts heave with her breathing and watched Loki nuzzle his nose into her hair, his fingers disappearing into her.

“Oh, the sounds you make, Jane. Not just your whimpers, but the slick, sloppy sounds,” he murmured to her neck. “How do you think Thor would react, hearing the noises you make when you come on my hand? When I whisper filthy things in your ear?” Jane spluttered for breath, feeling impossibly hot and tight now as he slammed his fingers into her at a driving pace, swirling her clit with his thumb. When she tried to look away, he grabbed her chin in his hand and forced her to meet her own eyes and his behind her reflected in the mirror. “What would his face look like, if he walked in on us right now?”

Jane couldn’t help it, she was too stimulated, too overcome, he was pushing all the right buttons and in all the right ways, she came hard and she hated it, hated him for doing it, hated him for the things he had said. She slumped forward but he caught her, his arm suddenly feeling like the grip of a boa constrictor.

As soon as Jane opened her eyes, the purple fog that had been in her vision for days was lifted and she nearly jumped off the bed, not caring how naked she was, she turned on her heel and slapped him as hard as she could across the face. Loki was on his feet in a split second and grabbed her wrist as she went for another blow and pulled her toward him. "You seem to like doing that, my dear," he said with a saucy smile and leaned down to whisper into her ear, his other hand sliding down to cup one buttock "How would you like it if I did it to you?"

“I’m not playing anymore,” she spat, shoving his chest hard backing him off a few feet. She yanked a sheet from the bed and wrapped it around herself to cover her nakedness.

“We were enjoying ourselves, were we not? What’s more exciting than the idea of getting caught?” Loki asked, shrugging and still a little out of breath.

“Getting caught by Thor you mean?” she shouted at him. “Is that what this is about? You're fucking me to humiliate him?" she asked in a rare burst of vulgarity.

"Hardly. I’m fucking you to cure you of a curse, in case you’ve forgotten.”

“But we didn't have to sleep together,” said Jane, emphatically, pacing now.

“Ah, but you agreed to that, my dear,” he reminded her in a smug tone.

“Yes and I shouldn’t have. Thor doesn’t deserve this! You’re only doing this to get at him.”

She said it with such absolute certainty that Loki was taken aback. He played it off, saying, “Is it so difficult to imagine that I want to have sex with a beautiful woman?"

"Even if it isn't 'hard to imagine,' I'm still Thor's 'beautiful' woman," she said, using air quotes and nearly losing her sheet.

"You said yourself he only kissed you twice, you're hardly Thor's anything," Loki shot back.

"How dare you?" spluttered Jane.

"Let me tell you something about your precious Thor," he said viciously, pulling his green shirt back over his head, its tunic style covering the erection still straining his trousers. "Before his exile to your backwater realm, my _brother_ spent most of his time gallivanting around the Nine Realms picking fights and fucking tavern wenches two at a time. There were always plenty of women willing to throw themselves at the son of Odin."

"Well, what about you? You're a son of Odin. I bet plenty of women were all over you hoping they'd get to be a princess!"

"Yes, but I could see through their fawning far better than he. I think you can tell I wasn’t celibate," he said, sarcastically, "but at least I was a little more discreet, and I learned not to fall for the lies.”

Jane was silent, thinking about the things he had just said but Loki was riled now and there was no stopping the flood of resentment in him, especially where Jane’s misplaced loyalties were concerned.

"He's had plenty of other flings, you know," he said. "Camp followers and barmaids, lords' and knights' daughters, all lining up hoping they'd get to be queen of Asgard. They'd tell him he was the best they'd ever had no matter how dissatisfying his fumbling. What were you, Jane? Just another local girl charmed, not by his crown perhaps, but by his biceps? Just like all the rest, you were ready to fuck him based on a smile and a promise to return."

"That’s not all it is,” said Jane, angry but sounding more sure than she felt, pacing the room and going to sit at the edge of the bed. “I'm not a fling."

"No, I suppose you're not, really,” said Loki slowly, then twisted the knife, “He hasn't even had you yet. Or tried, anyway. If it were left to him, you’d never have got the use of your cunt back."

Jane was taken aback by his sudden cruelty and said, “You're disgusting! Why did I ever say yes to you?”

"Because you can feel it, just as I can,” he said in a low voice. “You want me, Jane. That's obvious, even to you!"

"Want you? I _want you_ to get away from me, I don't _want you_ anywhere near me right now," she said, angrily.

"That's a little ungrateful, don't you think?”

"Ungrateful? Like you're not getting anything out of this… arrangement?" she asked, realizing she was shouting again.

"And you're loving it, you're having just as much fun as I am," he said, using his smile like a dagger.

"Except you don't have a heaping side dish of guilt every time!” she yelled. “Don't you even care about your own brother? What kind of monster are you?"

Jane didn’t know what happened but suddenly, lamps and chairs were crashing into heaps on the floor and Loki’s whole demeanor had changed from taunting to terrifying.

"You know nothing about what I am!" he yelled at her and she cowered by the bed, half to escape his shouting and half to escape splinters. When the sound of the crashes died down and she looked up, Loki was gone.


	16. Chapter 15

At some point, Jane picked herself up from her position cowering on the floor and nestled under the covers of Loki’s bed. It was ironic that even among the wreckage of his bedroom, his bed was still where she felt the safest. He hadn’t returned and somehow she doubted he would any time soon. She tried to replay their argument, to figure out what she had said that had set him off. He had gone so quickly she thought he might have teleported away, a power she wasn’t sure he even had.

She lay in the bed thinking until sometime late in the night and had fitful dreams of unidentifiable monsters and encroaching darkness. She slept through the morning and woke startled, forgetting that the purple cloud would be gone from her vision. She looked around the room and realized that Loki had not returned and she thought again about what had led to the destruction of the furniture.

What he had said was true in a way, she did know next to nothing about him, other that he was witty, a good conversationalist and fascinating on the subjects of magic and science (and excellent in bed, she tried to forget). There had been a hurt look in his eye as he’d yelled and for the first time Jane thought that though he had hidden it, maybe their quasi-relationship had been just as trying on him as it had been on her. She wanted to know what he was thinking when he’d said what he had but looking around, she also suddenly wondered if she even wanted to know him at all.

Jane deduced that she needed to know more about the massive rift between Loki and Thor. She suspected that, as in many brotherly conflicts, neither of them really knew what it was about, but she found herself wanting to understand why Loki had lashed out, telling her all those horrible things about Thor and other women. But then again, were they even true? Had he said them out of spite? Loki was the God of Lies after all but what if he had been doing something even worse last night, telling the truth?

She thought it through for a moment. He had implied that women just threw themselves at Thor because he was a prince and that in his unsubtlety (which Jane could personally vouch for as a character trait of Thor’s) he hadn’t noticed that they weren’t being satisfied. But if Thor was over a thousand years old… could ignorance possibly be sustained that long? Surely not.

She decided logic wasn’t going to answer her question about how Thor was in bed and instead focused on wondering why it suddenly mattered to her so much. Had Loki’s attentions so muddled her mind that she thought sexual compatibility was the only thing that was important in a relationship? But then again, was she compatible with Loki in only a sexual way? She scoffed, what was she doing thinking about her compatibility with Loki at all?

Jane was saved from having to dwell on this by the door opening and Eir being admitted. She hadn’t happened to be around when the healer was making her usual rounds before now and the two had a chance to talk but Jane couldn’t bring herself to ask many questions. Not long after Eir had left, Darcy came back with another invitation from Frigga.

It seemed they were all to dine together this evening, the two princes, the two mortal girls and the queen. Jane felt a little guilty when she thought that the last thing she wanted was to sit through dinner with the queen and her son while they weren’t speaking to each other. She found herself doubly grateful for Darcy's timely arrival and even for the prospect of seeing Thor again, however awkward it might be. Thor hadn’t been to visit or sent for her all day either and she was feeling completely confused, seemingly having neither Odinson on her side.

As Jane read the message, Darcy wandered around the suite of rooms, coming, inevitably to the archway and peeking into the bedroom with interest before saying, “Holy shit! What happened here?”

“We had a bit of an argument,” said Jane. At Darcy’s now worried look, she elaborated. “It’s okay, I’m fine. The furniture got the worst of it. I don’t think he meant to. It was like his temper literally broke.”

“Okay, that’s not normal. What were you doing? I mean, what was the fight about?” asked Darcy.

“Who even knows…” said Jane, having spent the better part of the morning on it and still not knowing herself. “It was kind of a sex argument.”

“Huh? You mean, like, you had hate sex?” asked Darcy, suddenly very curious.

“No, we were… having sex, kind of…”

“Jane, I’m not judging you, okay, just spill.”

Jane braced herself, sitting down on the sofa and said, “Okay, well… he was trying to break the curse on my brain and we decided that talking dirty was the way to go and… clearly it was.” She finished, ruefully.

“What do you mean, what did he say?” she asked, her face poised to gasp, her interest obvious.

Jane took a moment before breathing deep and saying, “It was what he said and _when_ he said it. He talked about Thor catching us and…. I came.” She looked down at her knees, a tear falling down her cheek.

Darcy’s shoulder’s slumped a little but she said, “Oh, honey, that doesn’t mean anything.” She came over to sit next to Jane on the couch. “Just because it was hot in the moment doesn’t mean you’re a bad person or that you really want Thor to catch you.”

“I know, and that’s what he said too, before we started. That it didn’t mean I actually wanted to do whatever he said, but I just don’t know.” They sat in silence for a few minutes while Jane pulled herself together. Eventually she put the message back into Darcy’s hand.

“I think we should probably pick out some clothes,” she said, looking at the message, glad to have something to distract herself. “This looks a little more formal than lunch yesterday.”

“Yeah, sure,” said Darcy. “I was going to say, Sif said we could look through her closet!” she said, with enthusiasm, glad to see Jane a little less forlorn.

“Like either of us could wear anything that amazon owns,” said Jane, a little skeptically. She hadn’t yet seen Sif in her time in Asgard but having read about her in Erik’s book it seemed she might have a thing for Thor and this made Jane a little wary.

“I know what you’re thinking but she says the tailors here are magical and they can make alterations really fast. Come on, I wanna go look!” she cajoled, grabbing Jane’s wrist.

“I don’t know, Darcy, Sif might not want to see me…” she trailed off.

Darcy smirked. “I don’t know that she would mind all that much,” she said, cryptically. “Besides, she’s not in. She’s on the training grounds all day, pretending to smite cadets. Sif said she never wears any of them anyway, her mother insists she have them for special occasions.”

“Sounds familiar…Well, okay then,” said Jane, bolstered, and she and Darcy made their way to the warrior woman’s rooms and spent a pleasant while chatting and going through the wardrobes for appropriate attire.

\---

A messenger found Loki in the old observatory in the late afternoon that same day. He had been there overnight and was now attempting to study star charts with a couple of his guards watching his every move. Loki took the message and smiled slightly, reading it. It was a summons to dinner with Frigga, Thor and the two Midgardians in attendance. Finally, he thought, he was being treated with the respect due to someone of his station.

He had spent his night gazing at the stars and planets, observing the Convergence, returning his gaze again and again to Midgard, such a small place to produce such great turmoil. It was appropriate he should look, since his thoughts were occupied by a certain Midgardian. When he had had a chance to calm down, he realized he probably scared her out of her wits, though she likely had no idea why. When she’d called him a monster, something inside him had just snapped. Thinking about it later, it sent him into new turmoil, knowing by the tone of her voice, that if she knew the truth about him she would be out of his bed in the space of a heartbeat. He tried not to think about why this bothered him so much.

Their argument had been petty but he had been sick of her reticence about admitting to her attraction to him. Her reaction to his revelation about Thor hadn’t been as satisfying as he had hoped, since she’d just sat, somewhat defeated and looked hurt, though she’d tried to hide it. He just couldn’t understand it. She hadn’t even known Thor for a week’s time and yet her loyalty was unwavering. He hadn’t told her anything but the truth as he knew it to be but even this hadn’t seemed to make her feel any less guilty. What was it about his brother that inspired such loyalty and why did everyone give him the benefit of the doubt when Loki never got the same consideration, even before he’d ‘turned evil’? In a way, that was what Jane had done. When she’d agreed that first time to have sex with him, she’d given him the benefit of the doubt, hadn’t questioned his motives more than any female would those of any male. It had been nice, simply to be treated like a man, and like a good man at that. He thought about this for the rest of the afternoon, alternately happy and angry with himself for being so.

\---

Loki caught sight of himself in a mirrored hall on the way to dinner and magicked away his dishevelment. His skin had been sallow, there were dark circles under his eyes from having been in the observatory all night and day, his clothes were rumpled. Now, after a pass of shining golden light over his form, his clothes were fresh and formal, his skin and hair clean and the dark circles disappeared. He was every inch the prince he needed to be for dinner with a Queen. Though it was most likely a show for the Midgardians to prove they could be merciful by allowing him to attend, a small, hated, sentimental part of Loki was glad to be going.

When he entered the queen’s chambers, dinner had been laid out in on a table in her garden and Jane and her friend had already arrived. Jane was looking somewhat downcast still and he again felt a little guilty.

When Thor arrived, they all sat down, Jane was seated between him and Loki. She immediately set to complimenting the food, the wine, the flowers and everything else it seemed, likely only to make conversation with Frigga and avoid having to speak to him. The topic soon wore out however and Darcy, that was the girl’s name, he recalled, brought up Thor’s time away.

“Yes, Thor, tell us all about your exploits on Vanaheim,” said Loki, clearly being sarcastic.

Thor glared but started the story of the battle anyway.

 

Jane was glad of this because it gave her a little time to think, even if her thoughts were not altogether pleasant. Thor was off being heroic and she was here, fucking his brother whose actions on Earth had probably had a hand in causing the war in the first place. And then there was the fact of which she was most ashamed and which had occurred to her again when she had sat down between them at the table, Thor’s warmth at her side radiating into her skin: the idea of being caught by him with Loki had turned her on. No matter what Darcy said, she squirmed in her chair even now, angry with herself just thinking about it.

“And what of the peace,” asked Loki, his voice bringing Jane back to the conversation. “What were the terms?”

“You know I leave that to the politicians, brother,” said Thor with a wink to Frigga and a grin.

“Yes, I know very well,” said Loki quietly.

“Ah, yes. We had more need of your silver tongue than of your steel dagger, Loki” said Thor, falling back into old patterns.

“My silver tongue was needed elsewhere,” Loki grinned, malevolently. Jane gasped and Thor glared, Darcy’s eyebrows nearly hit her hairline.

“And the situation on Jotunheim?” asked Frigga quickly.

Thor was giving Loki a heated look and Loki just glared right back with an icy stare.

“That is the next battle, I fear,” said Thor gravely. “I should send you, Loki. You should feel right at home there,” he said with mocking levity.

There was a long pause as Loki fumed, Jane watched his chest rise and fall rapidly. “I don’t understand. Why?” she asked.

“I don’t think now is-” Frigga started.

“Didn’t he tell you?” asked Thor, with a malevolent grin of his own now, “Loki is Jotunn himself.” He looked between the two, Jane did not understand, still. “He’s a frost giant, in Aesir form,” he carried on, blithely, “I thought for sure he would have told you. They are our ancient enemies… and the enemies of Earth.”

“Stop it, Thor,” said Loki, sharply. Jane looked back to him and there was a strange, a firm look on his face, oddly underlined with what Jane thought might be panic.

“Yes, I think it’s better if we change the subject,” said Frigga, who did just that, asking Darcy how she was enjoying Asgard thus far, knowing that Thor had shown her around that morning and would be dragged into the conversation.

Loki sat silently for the remainder of the evening, Jane trying to avoid curious glances at him. She could almost feel the tension radiating from him, tightening his muscles and shortening his breaths. It had been a huge revelation, not only the fact of his Jotunn heritage but also his reaction to it. If Loki was indeed not Aesir, Jane thought, she may have made a terrible error calling him a monster.

After dinner, Thor stood and invited Jane to walk with him. As they stepped down the path, Jane looked back at Loki, but he didn’t seem to notice, too busy glaring at the table.

 

As Darcy and Frigga continued to speak, Loki sat stiff in his chair. He was furious with Thor but angrier at himself. It was official now, Jane hadn’t known he was Jotunn when she’d called him a monster, but she knew now. The realization hit him like a sentence of death. She would flee him now, not that he had ever really had her. He was sorry now that he had scared her the night before, this revelation on top of their argument would be the end. The end of what he didn’t quite know.

He focused on the table in front of him, following the couple in his mind’s eye. Jane had always been inquisitive. There was no telling what she was asking Thor about him now, if she even considered him worth speaking of at all.

\---

"Where were you today?" asked Jane as the she and Thor strolled side by side through Frigga’s private garden on a stone path. Again he hadn’t taken her arm, which Jane couldn’t fail to notice.

“I was at the training grounds,” he replied. “The younger warriors are inspired to see their prince… or so Odin tells me.”

“Oh,” said Jane. She had been thinking about why he hadn’t been to see her, and was fishing for clues as to whether he knew what was really happening between her and his brother. “So, you aren’t avoiding me or anything?”

“Why would you say that, Jane?”

“It’s just…You never come by my rooms. What am I supposed to think?” she asked.

“Jane, I admit I may avoid your chambers but not you. I think of them as they have always been, Loki’s chambers. He riles me so.” This was a plausible explanation, Jane thought, he was mourning the loss of the brother he had once known and avoiding his chambers for that reason.

 “So, is Loki really not an Asgardian? I had no idea,” Jane said.

“Odin is keeping it a secret as far as possible,” said Thor. “I think to acknowledge it to the Nine Realms would officially end any possibility of reconciling with him. Father is not yet willing to do this. He maintains some hope for Loki’s rehabilitation.” He said it gruffly and Jane was reminded that she still did not know if rumors about what was happening in Loki’s chambers had reached him. They made some small talk as they walked but Jane’s mind was preoccupied and she kept glancing at the dinner table where Loki, Darcy and Frigga sat. Now guilt-ridden, she continued down the path with Thor, making a round of the garden in the fading light.

\---

"So… Jane says you're fantastic in bed," said Darcy, conversationally. She was sitting with Loki alone at the table, Frigga having excused herself a few minutes ago.

"She would know," Loki said in almost a monotone, still glaring at the table. There was another long pause while Loki was too preoccupied by thoughts of Jane to even bother threatening this insolent mortal.

"Yeah...you've got it bad," said Darcy.

Loki gave her a look that was equal parts annoyed and curious but didn’t have time to say anything because Thor and Jane were coming back up the path. He excused himself in a formal manner, trying not to look as though he was fleeing.

“Lady Darcy, Jane tires. Shall I take the two of you to your chambers?” asked Thor, approaching the table.

\---

When Jane returned to Loki’s chambers, she didn’t see him. It was not very late but she had had an emotional day and was still feeling the effects of the curse, however slightly. After another stilted conversation with Thor, where he had kept a respectful distance from her again and they hadn’t spoken of anything consequential, she found herself slightly less angry at the events leading up to the argument.

She went to lie down thinking she could try to apologize when Loki returned, which she felt sure he would. He would not just abandon her with one or two more curse spots to break. She tried not to think about how the idea affected her, that she and Loki need not have sex again and likely wouldn’t if the argument was any indication. She’d voiced her regret at having agreed to sleeping with him in the first place and now was regretting having said it. If Loki really did think he was some sort of monster, her words would have been doubly cutting.

She fell asleep looking around at the still smashed furniture and thinking about how to word her apology and trying not to think about why it mattered to her so much that he forgive her.

 


	17. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi all, I just wanted to take a moment to thank everyone for their comments and kudos and reads. You guys have been super supportive and I always get great feedback from you. Thanks SO much!

Jane woke in the hours before dawn and sat up, still in her dress from the night before. She looked to the other side of the bed and saw its golden sheets had not been disturbed. Loki had slept elsewhere. She moved out to the balcony and stood breathing in the thick, gray fog that had settled over the palace grounds.

She thought for a while about Thor, who had been in an interesting mood the night before. He had been charming to her and Darcy, then cold to Loki, obviously revealing information Loki had wished he hadn’t, then he had seemed almost fondly reminiscent about the Loki of the past, once Loki himself was out of earshot, anyway. She was reminded yet again that she didn’t know Thor very well, and didn’t know if this behavior was normal for him.

She knew what was normal for Loki, he was at least predictable in his unpredictability. She suspected he would not be seen by her until he wanted to be seen. She hoped it was soon, because she desperately wanted to tell him how sorry she was for calling him a monster, that she had no idea what she’d been saying, that she didn’t know. He’d been furious with Thor for revealing his secret, she could tell by the tension in his voice and the look on his face when he had told Thor to stop. Whatever else it might mean, she knew he hadn’t wanted her to know, that he cared enough about her opinion to want to shield her from the knowledge. Jane didn’t know what a Frost Giant was exactly, only that they inhabited Jotunheim, but she knew enough to assume Loki thought it was bad.

It turned out she didn’t have as long to wait for him as she thought. She found herself strolling the balcony and as soon as she had rounded the chaise she looked down only to see Loki laying on it, staring up at her. There was a nearly empty bottle of something that didn’t look like mead on the floor by the chaise.

“Hello Jane,” he said, mournfully.

“Hi,” she said. He sat up, making space for her to sit, which she did, close to him deliberately, so that he would know she wasn’t afraid.

“Have you been out here all night?” asked Jane, looking around at the fog.

“Yes,” he said. “I don’t mind the cold,” he said bitterly.

“I’m sorry I said what I did,” she began. “I had no idea you weren’t Aesir.”

“I know,” he said, softly, leaning back into the pillows and rubbing sleep from his eyes, and she suspected, clearing his head. “I’m sorry too, I shouldn’t have picked a fight with you about Thor,” he said.

“Really?” she said, skeptical of his rare moment of contrition she attributed to the mysterious bottle.

“Not really,” Loki said with a small smile. She had to laugh, lightly. He was nothing if not contrary. “I guess I just wanted you to know about him, to know that he’s not all he seems to be,” he said. She didn’t respond and he continued, “We’ve always been competing. And I wanted you to admit you want me at least as much as you want him.”

They sat there silent as Jane thought for a long while. It wasn’t as if he was wrong. She knew that a thousand years’ worth of history between Loki and Thor was unknown to her and it also reddened her face a little that he had used the word ‘competing.’ At the moment, she didn’t know if she wanted either of them more than the other. Forced to think about it over the last twenty four hours, she couldn’t say whether she was simply attracted to Thor on a purely physical level or if they had ever had anything more than that. She knew she had at least the same response to Loki, however, but it didn’t make her feelings any less complicated. “I think you’re right,” she said, sighing. “You said it before. I don’t know what I want,” she said, gazing at him sadly.

His hand came up to trace her jawline and he leaned in close and sighed, saying softly, “Neither do I.” His hands framed her face as he drew her closer and kissed her lips.

The contact was delicate, sweet, and she gave into it because it felt good. It felt like empathy and even though it was coming from this man she had such conflicted feelings towards, she couldn’t help herself. She allowed him to kiss her, joining in, tasting something like brandy on his tongue. She ran her fingers through his hair and over his shoulders and let him pull her back onto the chaise so they were lying there together with him partly on top of her as they continued to kiss and caress each other for a long while until Jane let out a whimper, the contact with his body suddenly seeming not nearly enough.

When Loki raised his hand to vanish their clothes, Jane stopped him. “Let me,” she said. And he waited, watching her face as she unlaced his tunic at the throat and helped him to pull it over his head. He pulled her up and unlaced her Asgardian dress, removing her arms from it one by one and then sliding it down her hips and off. He tossed it aside and Jane returned her hands to his body, tracing the muscles in his abdomen while he watched fascinated. She reached down to untie the cord that held his trousers on and he finished removing them, drawing her back beneath him gently.

When they were both naked, laying there pressed together in the pre-dawn light, Jane reached for his neck and pulled him down to her for another kiss. His arm tightened around her, his legs positioning themselves between hers. He guided himself inside her with his free hand and caressed her hip. He sank himself deep into her and lay there still, delighting in her tightness and looking her in the eye. Neither said anything, and he began to move his hips between the cradle of her thighs, the rhythm slow but satisfying, the position intimate.

Jane’s breathing was becoming shallow and Loki moved a hand down to aid him in pursuit of her pleasure, softly glancing over her clit a few times. She sighed quietly and whimpered. He knew she was close and braced himself, preparing to stop so he could concentrate on the counter-curse. She felt him tense and knew instantly what he was doing. It seemed like the wrong moment, like she would regret it forever if she let him stop now. “Don’t. Just keep going,” she said.

"But I have to-" he started, breathlessly.

"I don't care, come with me," she whispered, and his eyes went wide. Loki relaxed and began again, slowly drawing her peak from her. And then he heard it. In a soft, sweet voice she sighed his name as her spasms began and the combination brought on one of the strongest climaxes he had ever had.

Jane cradled his jaw in her hands, wanting to see his face again. She had not seen it last time they had had sex and was desperate to see him undone, especially now that she knew he felt something for her, even if neither of them knew what it was.

Afterward, they lay on the chaise watching the fog slowly lift, Jane’s head resting on Loki’s chest.

“Will you tell me about it?” asked Jane, knowing he would know what she meant.

“Since I suppose you could just ask Thor, if you want to hear it from me, I am willing to tell the tale,” he said, a little too cynically for their soft surroundings. He slowly launched into the story of an ancient battle for earth and of Odin finding him, of all the times Odin had equivocated to keep the secret, and of all the things he’d said that made sense only much later. He told her about the battle on Jotunheim, for once not including much about Thor’s stupidity, and about testing his theory on the Casket.

Jane was quiet for a while and then said, "Has it ever occurred to you that Odin used all that ambiguous language because he didn't want to lie at all, that lying to you was hurting him?"

Loki pressed his cheek to the top of her head and said, “Oh Jane, you don’t know him at all.”

“But if your real father put you out on a rock somewhere, isn’t anything else a better childhood, when you think about it?” she asked.

“I suppose you have me there,” he said, noncommittally.

“When did you find all this out?”

“Around the same time you were hitting Thor with your automobile,” he said sadly.

Jane inhaled deeply, realizing that that was what New Mexico must have been about. It was a temper tantrum really, but he seemed so put out right now, she didn’t have the heart to tease or argue with him about it. Obviously, it had been one of the defining moments of his already very long life. Instead, she just rested her head in the hollow of his shoulder and drifted off to sleep.

Loki lay there thinking, especially about Jane and his invasion of New Mexico. It had been his first sin, really. Everything else he’d done over the years, and there had been many dangerous and vicious pranks, had paled in comparison. At the time, he hadn’t done it idly, he’d been protecting his rule, the rule of law embodied in the king, but naturally it hadn’t been interpreted that way. In the eyes of his ‘father’ and ‘brother’ it was something to be greatly ashamed of, no matter that both of them had done worse in their day. He didn’t know what he would have done differently if given the chance, but with this small, Midgardian woman he had nearly killed that day lying in his arms, he suddenly knew what it was like to regret one of his actions. He felt crushing guilt and shame that she was willing to let him bed her when he deserved her not one bit. As he tightened his arms around her, an uncharitable part of him realized that he found his only solace in the idea that Thor didn’t deserve her either.

\---

Loki must have been staring off into space for a long while but at some point he realized that there was someone standing in the doorway to his rooms and he quickly conjured a blanket to cover Jane and himself when he realized who it was. The queen had come for another visit.

He tapped Jane’s shoulder and she woke, blearily. He materialized her dress back onto her under the blanket and watched her as she said a red-faced good morning to Frigga before fleeing inside. Loki conjured his own clothes back on before asking, "How long were you standing there?"

"Some time. I'm surprised, you usually sense my presence."

"I was… somewhat…distracted," he said.

“I see that, but it only confirms what I knew anyway,” she said and Loki looked at her, confused. "My son, I knew when you asked if you could visit my garden."

He had to smile at this. She was subtle, his mother. “It doesn’t mean anything, you can put away the wedding feast menus, mother,” he scoffed.

"Loki, you care for her, I can see it in your eyes."

“I do not.”

“And she cares for you. Why else would I find the two of you out here after your quarrel.”

“How did you know we had quarreled?”

“You barely spoke at dinner, what was I supposed to think?”

“Perhaps that was because Thor mouthed off about my family situation,” he said angrily.

“She obviously didn’t mind that you’re… different,” said Frigga, gesturing vaguely.

“I bet he’d be furious to know that,” said Loki with a bitter smile. “I know it was his intention to frighten her away from me.”

“Perhaps he heard the same servants’ gossip I did,” said Frigga. “That would be enough to rile anyone…Even if he hasn’t heard, _when_ he does, he will assume it was an act of revenge.”

Loki glared out over the gardens. “I didn’t do it because of him,” he said.

“I know, my son,” said Frigga, gently and there was a beat of silence.

“And what does Odin say?” asked Loki, changing the subject. “Has he decided what he’ll do with me once I’m finished here?”

"Your father has closed his mind to me on that point I am afraid. I do not know what he intends for you," she said. “You look wan, Loki. You should get out of these rooms more, get some exercise,” said Frigga, rising. She kissed Loki briefly on the forehead and left him.

He sat thinking for a while and came inside looking for Jane to say something, what, he didn’t know but was saved when he realized she had gone. Instead, he stretched his muscles which were tight with worry, and thought his mother, as usual, was probably right about getting out. He thought, suddenly inspired, that he should take in some time at the training grounds, someone there was sure to want to spar with the disgraced prince of Asgard.

\---

Jane had fled the queen with embarrassment burning on her face. She didn’t really know what to say to Loki either and so she dressed quickly in another fine Asgardian dress and put on the necklace she had worn before. She grabbed her tablet and left the quarters, running into Thor who caught up with her leaving his own chambers further down the long golden hallway.

“Jane,” he said, pleasantly.

She froze momentarily and turned slowly. “Thor,” she said, hoping to sound more enthusiastic than she felt but afraid it merely came out neutral.

“Jane, where are you going? I thought we could talk.”

“Oh, I was just going to the library, actually.

“And what do you want there? Come to the gardens with me,” he coaxed with a wide grin.

“There’s just some stuff I want to look up while I’m here,” she replied. “I mean, I might not have another chance…” she trailed off.

Thor looked at her strangely and a little crestfallen. “Well, Lady Jane, I shall hope to see you soon then,” he said.

“Yeah, of course,” said Jane and they nodded to each other in goodbye, going their separate ways, Jane on a mission to find out just what was so bad about being a Frost Giant.


	18. Chapter 17

"Your thoughts are stormy, my son. You are angry with me?"

Thor had found his father in the falconry and was not surprised when he addressed him though Thor had come up from behind, quietly.

"How may I not be?" Thor said, coming to stop near Odin. "I hear from every servant who dares to speak it that Loki has seduced my Jane, though I cannot confirm it. You sent me away and allowed it to happen!"

"I am not responsible for your brother's actions,” said Odin. “I admit freely I had hoped you would be cured of this obsession when the mortal was first brought here."

"You are cruel, father. The nature of the curse was a boon to you and you used it for your own ends!" said Thor.

"I am a king," said Odin, sharply. "I have one son, who must ascend the throne. I will use what I am given. You do not go to her, I hear. I am forced to interpret that as a result in my favor."

"I do not go to her because I do not wish to see that snake, Loki. If I were to read the truth of the rumor in his eyes I would not be able to contain my anger and he must still break the curse. I hold within me hope that Jane has yet resisted him or that he has somehow bewitched her mind."

"That is not in Loki's power and you well know it. Do you not see how fickle these mortals are?"

"Fickle! She is under a curse, she does not know what she is doing."

"Is that so? Your mother tells me she will be free of it by tomorrow morning. You will see then what your mortal has to say for herself."

Thor stood there, angrily seething but it was clear from the king's tone that the conversation was over. He stalked away, leaving the king to his thoughts.

It was not as easy for Odin as Thor probably thought. He was a father still and yet his duty to the nine realms was clear. He had been bombarded on all sides lately by talk of Jane Foster, as he knew he would be as soon as Thor had shown up with her in the healing chambers. He had got the gossip first from a trusted servant and then from the queen herself. Now Thor knew, only he was clearly trying to convince himself it was not true. If Loki had indeed seduced Jane Foster, all was lost. He would never have both his sons back. It seemed the only way to end this would be for Jane Foster to be out of both of their lives. As for himself, he would settle for her being out of Asgard.

\---

In the huge, vaulted library, Jane was pouring through books on the barbarous customs of the Jotunns. She had read about their battles, what they did to prisoners of war, how they had broken treaties of peace and invaded Earth. She read about their customs, many of which were unsavory. After a while she realized she was looking in the wrong place. None of it really mattered. Loki had been raised here. He had had a mother and father who loved him and an older brother for a friend. He'd been taught right and wrong by Aesir standards. And yet, she realized with a chill, Loki had become a murderer.

She decided to look through some books about recent history and found quite a few. None described Loki's brief reign as king, however and she was forced to look further back to get a clearer picture of who he was. Truly, there were few mentions of him without Thor accompanying him, usually being the hero of the story. But the more she read the more 'hero' took on a somewhat medieval meaning in Jane's mind. On Asgard as on Jotunnheim it seemed, might equaled right. Thor had solved most of his problems with his fists, his hammer or occasionally a drinking contest. Loki was mentioned using his powers of illusion and equally vicious battle tactics as she had heard about him using on the news during his invasion of New York. Reading these accounts, it almost explained how Loki could think that simply taking over the Earth would make him its rightful ruler, that seemed to be the way things worked here. The more she read, the more Jane was appalled.

She went back to Loki's chambers with a heavy heart. She wasn't sure she wanted to confront the reality of who Thor and Loki really were outside of their interactions with her.

\---

Fandral, Volstagg and Thor were sitting in tavern near the palace frequented by market shoppers, palace guardsmen, cadets, and streetwalkers alike. It was late afternoon and they had come hooded and sat in a darkened corner but really had no need, since none would dare assault the heir to the throne with so much as a polite greeting. Thor’s stormy face if not their own discretion assured it.

"Come, come, tell us what all the fuss has been about." Fandral was cajoling him after a hearty meal and several tankards of ale.

"What has been eating at your heart these several days, my friend?" asked Volstagg.

"I cannot speak of it. It is too shaming," said Thor, in his cups but trying not to show it.

"Shaming…" asked Fandral,"This sounds more and more interesting all the time."

"I promise you it is not what you might think," said Thor, regretfully.

But when they had talked about an hour more and drank the equivalent, the whole story came tumbling out.

“…And I have returned to find her quite well but still living in Loki’s chambers. The servants gossip about them, and yet I have no proof. Even so, when I see her still I wish to hold her in my arms. Tell me Fandral, you have bedded so many maidens, is this right that I should feel this way?”

“In my, admittedly vast, experience, I find nothing is out of the ordinary when it comes to matters of the heart, my friend.”

“And that is not even the worst part. I am prevented even from so much as holding her hand. My brother is the only one who can touch her until she is healed.”

There was a short pause and Thor picked up his tankard again forlornly.

"But that cannot be true," said Fandral, his head quirking to the side.

"No, surely," said Volstagg. "We, both of us, made free to buss her hand on meeting the lady."

"Yes, in Loki's chambers," said Fandral, his brow furrowed.

The tankard in Thor’s hand dropped to the table, its contents sloshing over the sides and foaming on the weathered wood. He said nothing, but stood quickly, nearly turning over the table, grabbed Mjolnir and stalked out of the tavern, Fandral and Volstagg bolting after him.

\---

“Loki!” came a gruff, shouting voice from the other side of the sand sparring pit where the second son of Odin was fighting a member of the Einherjar with two daggers. There were several cadets gathered around them watching, all of whom turned to see Thor.

“It seems I am needed elsewhere,” said Loki, who slipped around the distracted man, simultaneously grabbing his sword arm and forcing it behind his back and pointing one of his daggers downward into the man’s shoulder, pricking him through a space in his armor. “My win,” he said.

“That wasn’t fair,” groused the soldier, eyeing Thor who was quickly striding towards them.

“Using your advantages may not be fair, but it’s smart,” replied Loki, putting the warrior between himself and his former brother whose emotions were rapidly affecting the cloud cover.

“Get out, all of you,” yelled Thor, gesturing the cadets and Einherjar away. They obeyed instantly, grabbing swords, maces, and axes and leaving the sandy space. “You have lied to me Loki and I will have the truth!”

“Equivocated, maybe…” smiled Loki, spinning his dagger in one hand.

“Enough! You lied to us all. I could have touched Jane, held her hand-" he shouted, but Loki just smirked.

"Is that all this is about? If my little misrepresentation of the facts was enough to deter you, perhaps you didn't care that much in the first place," said Loki, pleased with himself. Thor lunged forward and Loki stopped him with more words. "I still have a spot or two left, would you like the honors?” he said, coldly, affecting the air of someone not particularly interested. “We could arrange something.” He seemed to consider for a moment, then said, “Yes, why not? You've fucked in front of me before.”

"Don't twist this around!” boomed Thor.

It was now or never and Loki had never been able to resist twisting the knife, especially now. "Ah, I see you do not wish to partake. What is this? You don't want her now that she's lain down with a monster?” asked Loki with a sneer, waiting while his phrase sunk in and Thor’s hammer dropped to the ground. He seized the advantage, sending a spell that bound both Thor’s hands into tight fists. It was a calculated risk, he knew he could withstand a pummeling. As long as Thor couldn’t wrench his hands apart to grasp Mjolnir to attack him with, he would be relatively unharmed. Thor’s face was a picture, well worth the lie he’d told and any slap he knew he would soon receive from Jane. It was an angry and broken hearted look, he relished it.

"You lie! Jane would not have let you bed her! You have only got inside her head,” Thor shouted, wrestling the spell. “She has pulled away from me! What have you been whispering into her ear, Loki?"

" _You_ talk of whispers? You who wanted her to know exactly what I am! I lie when it suits me, but the truth is far more pleasing now. And I am most pleased, knowing you no longer want her now that she’s been fucked by a Frost Giant,” he said, cruelly and then continued slyly, “Or maybe you just don't think you would compare?"

"I've satisfied countless many more maidens than you, little brother," said Thor, incredulous.

Loki laughed snidely and said, "Satisfied? No doubt you've bedded more, but have they got as much pleasure from you as I've given to your Jane?" Thor just looked taken aback, not quite sure if he was making his point, Loki continued. "They screamed your name and cried out, just as if it were real. But did they whine and beg you for more? Did they clench around your cock like they wished never to let it go? That's what Jane does,” he mocked as he held tight to the spell on Thor’s fists. “She’s magnificent. She squeezes the life out of me and grasps at me with her sweaty hands as she comes and sighs my name as I soften inside her,” he said, his voice a mocking caress. He watched the look on Thor’s face drop and continued, “And I know it’s real, because she's no liar and she doesn't want the crown on my head or the wealth of my name. Can you say that of your countless 'satisfied' maidens?" he scoffed.

At this point, Thor finally figured out he didn’t need Mjolnir to do the job he had in mind. In moments, he and Loki were jostling on the ground, using every available resource, the daggers, the staff of the Einherjar who had fled for reinforcements when Thor first appeared, even the very sand which Loki flung in Thor’s eyes to level the odds after having received a blow to the head had left him momentarily blinded.

By the time Volstagg and Fandral came hurtling into the training ground, both brothers were bloody messes, each holding one of Loki’s daggers and they had to be forcibly pulled apart. Volstagg dragged Thor away as Fandral put a pair of magic dampening cuffs onto Loki’s wrists. Loki groaned and ducked down with a pain somewhere in his ribs and yelled after his brother, "Jane Foster is far too good for you, Thor."

\---

When Fandral entered the main room of Loki’s chambers, Jane was sitting on the couch and inanely, thought he was delivering a sack of potatoes, until the sack said, “Put me down, you oaf, I’m half healed already.” That was when she realized it was Loki and when Fandral put him on his feet and released him from his cuffs, she could see why he’d said ‘half’. Loki’s face was bruised in several places, blood was coming from his temple and he was sweating heavily. He limped toward the bedroom and Jane looked between him and the other warrior but Fandral just gave her a scathing look and turned and left.

She followed Loki who she found in the bathroom peeling his shirt off manually. His head was momentarily hidden and she could focus on a large purple bruise on his slender ribcage.

“Oh my god!” she said. “What happened?”

“Your precious Thor happened,” he said, straightening up. She noticed he also had a thin, bloody cut on his shoulder. “Then again, I probably deserved it,” he smiled tiredly as Jane set about running the bath.

“I don’t doubt that,” she said, thinking of some of the pranks he’d pulled that she’d read about and frowning at his various wounds as he took his trousers off. She stripped out of her own clothes too, and put an arm around him as he limped toward the steps into the bath and he let her. She helped him sit and then grabbed a sponge and some soap, sat down next to him and went to work on his face.

“Men,” she huffed. “What was it about? Other than this, I assume,” she said, shrugging her shoulders as if to indicate their proximity.

“Mostly this. Whatever this is.” He had said it aloud for once and Jane knew now for sure that he was just as confused as she was if not about the same things. Jane didn’t say anything, just rinsed the sponge and carried on.

Loki knew he was rather glossing the whole thing over, but Jane didn’t need to know that yet, at least not until he could figure out how to apologize for the things he’d said about her, many of which made him wince now that he was back beside her. He also hadn’t mentioned the real catalyst for the argument, that Thor had found out he’d lied about his not being able to touch her. She was sure to find out soon, probably the next day as soon as she left his chambers and then it would all officially be over. Jane would never forgive him for having lied to Thor or for saying the graphic things he had said. He saw no way out that would lead to reconciliation with Thor or with Jane.

He sat, soaking his aching muscles in the hot water, watching Jane as she fiddled with the sponge. Though he was meant to be being punished for his crimes, Loki hadn’t really spent a lot of time while in his jail cell thinking about them at all. He had been more concerned with the unjustness of it all, having done something Odin himself had done and been rewarded for and having been thrown into a cell instead. Now, though, sitting here with Jane, he truly felt the guilt that a prison sentence was meant to evoke. The worst thing about it was that he sat here in the calm before the storm, knowing it was coming, and feeling powerless to avoid it. He’d said things he could never take back and his silver tongue had trapped him, he had no idea how to begin to say how sorry he was.

While he sat regretting, Jane sat in the bath thinking about Loki’s wounds. She thought about Thor and Loki in battles with rock monsters, dwarves, and other alien creatures. The scale of their strength had really been lost on her in her limited interaction with them, she thought. The two of them had really been through a lot together.

“He really thrashed you,” Jane said sympathetically, feeling guilt at being the cause of their fight and not knowing how to assuage it.

“I will heal, Asgardians do not wound easily,” he said, tiredly.

“Right,” she said, deciding now was not the time to bring up the fact that he was not Asgardian or anything she’d discovered in the library about Jotunns. There was another long silence.

She put down the sponge, realizing that the cut on his shoulder that had already closed up. His body really was a marvel. Suddenly, there was no reason for her to be so close to it and even after last night, she felt like she was invading his space. She moved to go sit on the other bench but Loki’s hand was on her arm before she got two steps.

“Come here,” he said in a tone she now recognized instantly as amorous.

“Are you really ready-” she tried. She looked him in the eye and saw something hungry there.

“I assure you, I am.”

Knowing it was the last night they would spend together, Loki resolved to make it good for her, to show her the heights of sensation. He wanted to banish his thoughts in her body. He slowly pulled her to him and then picked her up and sat her on the cold stone floor of the bathroom, hanging her legs down into the warm water.

For Jane, the contrast of heat and cold was shocking and wonderful. She gripped the edge of the bath as he stood and pushed her shoulders so that her whole back shivered when it touched the floor. He pulled her ass off the edge and started his campaign on her clit and folds with his warm tongue. She lay there with the hot water rolling in drops off her onto the cold floor, puddling around her, letting him manipulate her with his mouth and fingers, moaning and rolling her head side to side, her hair damp at the tips tickling her shoulders as she cried out.

Ignoring his own reaction in the water below, Loki’s tongue left her folds and was replaced by his fingers swirling her clit. He lay his warm head on her belly, kissing her there with an open mouth, using his tongue on the dip of her navel. He could taste the sweat on her skin from the steam in the room and as she bucked up onto his fingers he used his free arm to surround her hips and anchor her to the cool floor. He crooked the fingers inside her, pulling her orgasm from her as he performed the counter-curse. Her upper body rose in reaction and he looked up into her eyes as her arms came to rest around his wet shoulders. He found it difficult to look away but feeling more and more foolish he decided he must so he ducked his head to place a kiss on the skin inside her arm and pulled away back into the bath.

As he washed his face in the cooling water, Jane sat up and slipped back in too, still panting somewhat. She trailed her fingers along his shoulder where the wound had been and then moved them further up to his neck and into his hair, cradling his head and looking at his formerly bruised face. He grabbed her by the jaw and pulled her to him. “One more now,” he murmured and began grazing her earlobe with his teeth.

She moaned in satisfaction and pressed herself against him, feeling the hardness of him in the water. “Take me to bed?” she said.

From his quick intake of breath she knew she had surprised him. He looked down at her like she was the only thing in the room and then picked her up and walked out of the bath with her in his arms carrying her to the bed like a groom carrying his bride over their first threshold.

He placed her on it gently, soaking the sheets as he climbed on top of her. He rested his weight on his elbows by her sides and framed her face in his hands, settling over her and kissing her deeply, his wet hair falling around their faces like a curtain. Jane’s arms returned to his back and she slowly dragged her nails down it in the lightest of touches causing him to make a contented hum against her lips. She raised one knee to encourage him to grind into her hips which he did, obligingly. She responded by arching her back attempting to lift herself into contact with his torso but he didn’t let her, holding her down by placing a large hand on her hip and lowering himself to kiss her neck and sternum.

He rested his weight on her now and she loved the feel of it. There was something almost cherishing in his movements and touches that had her feeling overwhelmed. He was going slow, his head resting on her breast now as his hand wandered lower down her stomach between them, skimming her mound and into her folds. He guided the tip of his cock to her and stroked it along her slit slowly. Jane groaned and laced her fingers in his hair. He looked up at her, raising himself back level with her head. “Are you ready?” he asked, softly.

“Yes, so ready,” said Jane breathlessly. There was an intense look in his eyes and Jane knew he was seeing its mirror in hers. He kissed her, filling her slowly at the same time and causing her to shiver with pleasure.

“Jane,” he moaned and she realized it was the first time he’d ever said her name during the act. The way he said it brought a tear to her eye and as it fell down her temple he put his lips to it, sucking it up silently. She held on as he began a slow rhythm like he had used on the balcony and Jane sighed his name in return.

“Jane,” he said again. “This won’t be enough,” he said, thrusting in deep and harder than before. The intense look was back and she didn’t know what he meant so she just kissed him. “You’ll crave me still, I know it,” he whispered.

Jane gasped, knowing it was true. She hung on to him tightly as his pace increased. He was kissing her neck, sucking and nipping her almost painfully and driving into her below like his life depended on it. It was intense and intimate and all she could do was let him. It felt so good to let go and allow it. He raised his head to look her in the eye as his hand found one of her breasts, squeezing tightly, drawing a low moan from her. His strokes sped up and his pelvic bone was hitting her clit in just the right way, overwhelming her with sensation, he watched her with obvious satisfaction as she let out a groan and sighed his name. She came, fighting against closing her eyes but losing the battle, and saw a burst of light behind her eyelids as Loki whispered the counter-curse into her ear for the last time. It was all so intense and when she felt Loki grasping around her with his arms, she knew he had reached his peak too. Soon, he was collapsing onto her, and she enjoyed the feeling of his weight as she ran her fingers through his soft hair and down his back lazily.

They lay in a tangle of limbs on the bed for several minutes catching their breath and Jane didn’t know quite what to say, but figured someone should speak to dispel the intimate atmosphere that was sure to arise if he looked her in the eye again.

“The sheets are soaked,” said Jane tiredly. She moved over and allowed Loki to lie down next to her, noticing all his wounds had now completely disappeared.

“It’s fine, I can dry them,” he said, waving a hand to do so.

“You can do everything, can’t you?” she whispered, turning her face to look at him.

“Not everything,” he said, a little sadly, and pulled her to his side, draping his arm around her middle.

As Jane slept, Loki lay pondering the ceiling, half expecting the Einherjar to burst in and drag him out of the room. Jane was officially cured now and he didn’t know how much longer he could stay here but he was determined to make it last as long as possible. He lay awake not wanting to waste a moment of the sensation of having Jane in his arms for the last time.

His fight with Thor was still on his mind. One thing was for sure. The truth couldn’t wait any longer, in fact he had probably erred massively in taking her to bed tonight but it just hadn’t been in his nature to postpone the pleasure of their last night together. In his experience, it was better to take what one wanted and apologize later, even if the trouble it caused was irreparable. He would have to tell Jane in the morning. The whole truth would probably end things for good but at least he would be dragged back to his cell having told her. He would be the villain again in her eyes but perhaps in the end that was better for her. Let her think him to be simply a jealous man, only in it for pleasure. Let her think he had done it to hurt Thor, it was better than leading her on any further. In the long run, he would probably hurt her less than if he tried to salvage some sort of relationship with her. After all, what would he do with it if he had her love? He thought about it for a long time and could only conclude that he would probably end up destroying it, like he had so much else.


	19. Chapter 18

When she woke the early the next morning, Jane lifted her head off Loki’s chest and rubbed the sleep from her eyes. He was breathing softly and looked as pale as death in the half light of the room. As she watched him she thought about how they had practically made love last night.

She didn’t know what else to call it, it had been sad and intense and he had been passionate and held her tight, looking into her eyes for most of it. It had been overwhelming to her and her mind hadn’t wanted the feelings he evoked but as had happened so many times now, she let him take charge and it had led to one of the most powerful experiences of her life. Even his words were haunting her and she was sure he was right, she would crave him for a long time to come.

His job now done, she wondered what would happen to him. Loki would be taken back to the dungeons soon, she assumed and then she would likely be escorted back to Earth. And afterward, what? Would Thor come to visit her or would he remain in Asgard with his many duties to perform? Would he want to continue their relationship, knowing she had slept with Loki? Could she even attempt a relationship having done what she had and felt the way she felt in his not-brother’s arms? Did she want to?

The more time she spent with Thor over the last three days, the more she thought she had to tell him the truth about what she and Loki were doing, but there was another truth he would need to hear as well, that she didn't know if she wanted him at all. They had had so little to say to each other in the garden and at dinner, she wondered if there was any point continuing to try to get to know him.

She looked down at Loki and he shifted as if he knew he was being watched. His eyes opened slowly and he gave her a sleepy nod. “Good morning, Jane,” he said, disentangling himself from her reluctantly.

“Morning,” she smiled lightly. She sat up and rested her arms on her knees and began, “Loki, I don’t want you to get the wrong idea when I say this but… I have to talk to Thor.”

“Don’t, Jane,” he said, quickly. “Look, I don't know how to say this… or even what exactly to say... There are things you'll find out, I'm sure…but I want you to know…" He was fumbling for words in a way most unlike him, even if it was early in the morning.

"You're not making any sense," she said, gently.

"I know, I just need time,” he started, watching her with his clear blue eyes. “I-”

But time was in short supply. There was a great creak of doors from the outer chamber and the sound of marching feet. Loki and Jane both looked around at the archway in time to see a squadron of Einherjar in full battle gear standing in the doorway.

"Get dressed, princeling," said their leader, sternly. Loki swallowed deeply, turning back to Jane and looking at her intensely for a moment before standing, completely nude and facing the man. He magicked a suit of leather and metal armor onto himself and held out his hands for a pair of magical cuffs to be placed on them.

"Wait!" yelled Jane clutching the sheets around her as the shackles clanked and spun, locking themselves around Loki's wrists. "You can't just…"

"Don't bother, Jane," Loki said, sighing. The squadron flanked him and they headed out as Jane scrambled to dress, wanting to follow as fast as she could.

\---

As he was marched down the halls of the palace of Asgard, Loki could tell it was not as early as he had thought. People were up and about and he was being stared at again. At least this time he was in respectable clothes, he thought, though given what all of them had likely been hearing from their servants lately it was perhaps not so important that he be wearing clothes at all. He almost relished the idea of giving them an eyeful to go with their earful.

As he passed a great statue, a red cloaked figure turned to look on him with furious eyes. He decided that if he were playing the villain again he may as well start now. He hadn’t had the chance to tell Jane anything but she’d get the idea soon enough. "Coming along then, brother?" asked Loki with false cheer.

"You face our father alone, Loki," said Thor sternly, and the Einherjar continued on, moving him towards the looming doors of the throne room. Whatever lay on the other side, he was determined not to think about his true feelings for Jane. Nothing good could come of it now.

\---

Odin All Father sat on his wide, golden throne still as a statue as his erstwhile son was dragged before him in chains, fighting against his captors by the only means available to him. His magic bound, he was shrugging their hands off as best he could. He must have known it was fruitless, Loki's fighting ability had always been cobra-like swiftness and cat-like grace, eluding a grasp was the key to his tactics. Without his agility or his magic, Loki was as caged as a raven with clipped wings and even after all he'd done, it hurt Odin to see him thus. When he stopped in front of the throne, Loki looked up at him with angry, cold eyes.

“You have been brought here only because you have finished your task, Loki,” said Odin, in a neutral tone. “The healers tell me Jane Foster’s life force should be completely back to normal by this morning. And while I have not decided your fate, I must admit that you have followed my commands as to your imprisonment in your rooms or remained with a guard at all times. However-”

“Am I to be rewarded, then, for having been a biddable child?” asked Loki, sarcastically.

Odin ignored this, “The altercation with your brother, which was regrettable but probably unavoidable-”

“Regrettable?” said Loki, mockingly. “You knew it would come.”

“It was not I who-” began Odin, but Loki cut him off again, sensing a reprimand that would have been one hypocrisy too many.

“Whatever I’ve done, you let me out of my cell to do it. You should be thrilled at what I’ve done for you,” he shouted, viciously. “I made Thor’s little mortal scream like a whore for anyone who passed under my balcony to hear! My jailers whispered behind his back how she moaned my name. He can no sooner marry her now than I can lift that damn hammer! I may wear the horns, but he’s the cuckold, and all of Asgard will know it soon enough.” 

“Silence!” Odin shouted, standing. “You will be taken to your cell,” Loki started to interrupt again, “Until I have made my decision. You have my word, the word of a king, that I will decide within a fortnight’s time.” Loki was still watching Odin as the guard detail pulled him away and back to the depths of the palace.

\---

When Jane had put on decent clothes, her jeans and flannel again, thinking she wanted to be comfortable in her own skin for what she was about to face, she rushed to the doors of Loki’s chambers only to fling them open and have the guards on the other side bar her way out.

“Let me out, I need to follow them!”

“We cannot. You must stay inside,” a guard said. He turned and pulled the door closed again, and Jane distinctly heard the sound of the lock turning. She paced the room, suddenly feeling very alone. She looked out at the garden, glanced at the instruments and books, and went from one room to another. She took a shower and redressed. She did all these things with Loki’s fate hanging over her, and his words on her mind. What had he been trying to tell her when they had been interrupted? He had looked forlorn like she had never seen him before, even after he had had the better part of a bottle of alien liquor and spent a night in emotional turmoil.

Suddenly, she was angry on his behalf and not less so on her own. If anything, she’d been owed the explanation, whatever he’d been about to say, she knew she needed to hear it. She stalked to the doors again and pounded on them. They opened once more and one of the guards turned to her.

“Let me out of here right now,” she said, firmly.

“We have our orders, Lady Jane,” said the guard.

“Whose are those?” she asked.

“The orders are from Odin, King of the Nine Realms,” said a voice from behind them. It was Thor and the guards parted for him to enter. “Jane,” he said, taking her arm and leading her over to the couch. They sat and Jane was focused on his arm on her, as if she couldn’t believe he was finally deigning to touch her. “Loki will be in the dungeons by now.”

“I know! You have to stop them!”

“Jane, I cannot do that. Loki is a war criminal… but I see you have forgot that in your time together,” he said, sadly.

 

His hand was still on her arm as if he didn’t mean ever to let her go but it did not feel like it usually did when he was this close. His hand merely felt cold and impersonal. "I cannot lie to you, Jane. I am deeply hurt that you chose to let Loki into your bed,” he said. “But Jane, Loki has lied to you, to me, to all of us.” Thor continued and she sat quietly as he told her many things she would rather not have known.

\---

It late that evening, by Loki’s reckoning, before he saw Jane again. Unfortunately, she was accompanied by Thor and she didn’t look happy. They were standing outside his painfully white cell and Jane was telling Thor that she would be fine, that he could go. Thor did so reluctantly and Loki closed his book, rising and coming to stand before her.

“Before you say anything, just so you know, Thor told me everything,” she said, angrily, her voice somewhat muffled by the force field between them. “All about the touching me thing and about what you said when you were fighting with him…and about what you said in the throne room.” She was disheartened as well as furious now. “How could you say those things? How could you lie to Thor like that? That day in the garden, when Thor pulled back from me and I didn't know why...You did that!" she said, glaring at Loki who stood silently. “Your lies made me think he didn’t want me anymore! How could you do that to me? And you took advantage of me."

Loki had listened to her diatribe as patiently as possible but now he was compelled to set her straight. "Come now, Jane,” he said in a silky tone, “That was before you even saw Thor again. What difference did it make to you not knowing that he could sit by and hold your hand? The All Father would not have permitted it anyway. When you said yes to me, it had nothing to do with Thor.”

"Says you," she said.

"Say you and every moan and cry and call of my name," he said, firmly.

“All of that is over and completely beside the point. You let me think you'd been beat up over me!" she said, disgusted.

"So what, you were fucking me that last night out of pity?" he asked, sarcasm dripping in his voice.

“No,” she said, quickly. “But I didn't have all the facts! I would never have betrayed him like that!” 

“You don't care that much about Thor,” Loki said, bitingly. “You barely mentioned him when we were together.”

“We weren't 'together.' And I didn't mention him because I didn't want to fight with you. And because I felt guilty!” she said.

“Why? You weren't fucking him, you'd barely even met him, and never the real him, only his mortal form in its pathetic state. I saw him, shattered by the realization that he wasn't worthy of the hammer, the throne. And just because he's got those back doesn't mean he's worthy of either, or worthy of you, Jane.”

“Well, neither are you!” she said, fiercely.

“Don’t you think I know that?” He yelled, jolting forward and scaring her a little, the furniture in his cell quivering.

She took a few shallow breaths, watching his furious face, not daring to think about what his words had meant. After some time she said, quietly,“How could you say those disgusting things about me when you were fighting with Thor?”

“They weren’t that disgusting, they were true,” he replied, more quietly now. “You are magnificent, Jane. It feels like Valhalla when I’m inside you.” He was close to the force field now, the intensity was back in his expression, the same look he had given her only last night in bed. “I don’t know what it means but you can’t deny you feel it too.”

“I feel something, and you were right, I am going to crave you, but I’m just going to have to live with it. I can’t do this, Loki,” said Jane, sighing, suddenly exhausted. “And even if I could, I can’t ignore the horrible things you’ve done. Thor told me everything, about New Mexico, about New York too.”

“There are things you don’t know-things _he_ doesn’t know-” he said, testily.

“Please, don’t start. I just came…” She sighed and continued with a note of finality in her voice, “I don’t even know why I came. Goodbye, Loki.” With that, she turned on her heel, marching away.

As Jane retreated, Loki sat at the edge of his cell. Now he knew the pain of his incarceration, sitting here, unable to follow her and attempt to explain himself. Jane had been furious and he now supposed it was her right to be. It hurt though, to see her angry. He had once thought that inducing chaos into this situation would be nothing more than a laugh and that any hurt caused would be merely a new sensation to be relished after a year of inertia. He had been wrong and it pained him now to realize it.

It had been his usual tactic not to bother much with moral absolutes, but faced with Jane’s anger he wondered. Certainly the whole process of curing her had gone more smoothly in his hands alone than it would if he had had to balance Thor's feelings and relationship with Jane into the equation. He told himself that any healer would agree. When he had begun this mess Jane hadn’t been very important, he hadn’t even really considered her a real person when he first saw her on the plinth, but she was much more than that now. Had he taken a choice from her when he told Thor not to touch her? She seemed most hurt on this point and he now worried that perhaps he could not atone for his actions.

And that was what he needed to do now most of all. If Jane was ever to forgive him, he must atone. He hadn’t counted on developing feelings for Jane Foster, who seemed to have magical powers that rivaled even his own. He realized how strange it was that this unremarkable creature had changed the lives of two immortals merely by being in the wrong place at the wrong time. In her jeans and flannel he would never have thought it of himself but now he knew it was pointless to argue with himself (and with Darcy, if the need ever arose), he did indeed ‘have it bad’.


	20. Chapter 19

Several days passed and Jane and Darcy sat in the great hall of the palace eating dinner among a huge crowd of Asgardians. While Darcy chatted with some warriors seated near them, Jane was picking at her dinner and thinking about her situation.

Now that Loki was back in prison and Jane had been declared cured by the healers, she had been permitted to leave his chambers and had been doing so as frequently as possible. In them, she felt surrounded by his presence. She had been rarely without company though, since Darcy was around and Thor had been almost too attentive now that Loki was not to be encountered. He had taken her to the marketplace and shown her around the city. He had also taken her to the observatory and waited as patiently as was possible while she made some calculations and observations of the Convergence, the stars and constellations of Asgard, and the view of Earth from so far away. She could tell he was bored though and had let him go, insisting she could find her way back on her own.

They had not spoken much about Loki beyond the necessary and Jane was beginning to think Thor was merely showing her around out of a sense of obligation, that he felt guilty for having been the inadvertent cause for her contracting the curse in the first place. It was clear that his ardor had cooled in the wake of finding out she had been with Loki but he was still protective in a comforting and kind way.

He hadn’t wanted to take her to see Loki that first day but she had made him, and afterward, regretted having gone. She was glad she had let Loki know how angry she was, but his words, as always, had given her something more to think about. She knew he wanted her, and part of her knew she wanted him too, but there were just too many complicating factors.

And did it matter anyway? Loki was in jail, after all and no one would tell her if Odin had reached a decision about his fate. Surely curing one Midgardian of a curse would hardly tip the balance back in his favor after all the horrible things he had done. The things Thor had told her, about Loki’s past actions on the Bifrost, his invasion of earth, his behavior during her own ordeal, had left her head spinning. Loki still didn’t seem repentant. Of course, how much of that was just Loki acting a part, as she knew he was used to doing? Then, when she brought up the hurts he had caused, he merely continued to malign Thor and insist upon her sexual reactions to him being proof, but Jane needed more than that.

Thinking back over her relationship with Loki, she couldn’t say for sure that there had been a reason she had agreed to have sex with him that first time beyond interest or curiosity. His expert handling had compelled her to trust Loki with her body and he had proved adept with it, but could he ever be trusted with her heart?

She sighed again and looked toward the high table, seeing Thor sitting there talking to Sif. She couldn’t muster any jealousy now and had even met the lady in question a few times over the last few days. Darcy had been hanging out with her insisted she was ‘cool’ about the ‘whole thing’, whatever that meant. She excused herself from dinner early, and went back to Loki’s chambers to pack her things.

\---

Though sleeping in his bed reminded her of Loki, Jane hadn’t let the chamberlain move her, thinking it would have been too much trouble since she was sure to leave Asgard soon anyway.

She had located all of the clothes Loki had vanished. Fascinatingly, it turned out he had only dematerialized them and made them reappear in the wardrobe, where they sat in a haphazard pile along with her sneakers which she didn’t recall seeing amongst her things when Loki had brought her the bag of her stuff. It would have been just like him to hide them from the first, given his reaction to most of her clothing. She put everything back into the small bag and was changing out of her Asgardian dress into a long t-shirt when there was a knock at the outer door. She let Darcy in and they sat on the couch.

“You kinda fled dinner,” said Darcy.

“Yeah, sorry. I just didn’t feel comfortable,” said Jane.

“No one knows. They weren’t staring or anything.”

“Not that kind of uncomfortable. I just have a lot on my mind.”

“Yeah, I noticed.” There was a long pause before Darcy sighed and said, “Jane, I think you need to go visit Loki.”

“What? No way. Besides, I already did.”

“Jane, I know what happened, but I think you’ll regret it if you don’t at least say a better goodbye.”

“I don’t know that I can face it.” She sat down on the bed and sighed.

“Face what, exactly? I know you don’t like talking about it, but maybe you need to. Remember, I’m not going to judge you.” When Jane didn’t reply, Darcy continued. “Look, Jane, I know you don’t just fall into bed with a guy.”

“No, it wasn't like that," not at first, she thought, silently, and wondered what it _was_ like.

“It’s okay to have some feelings for him,” said Darcy. “I know he has feelings for you, I could tell at that super awkward dinner.”

Jane laughed, briefly. “Yeah, not one of the finer moments of my trip.”

“What I mean is, and not to go all cliché on you but, maybe it’s like that heart saying, only it’s the body that wants what the body wants. Maybe you don’t need to feel so guilty.”

But that wasn’t exactly the problem. Jane couldn’t shake the feeling that she should feel guilty for still wanting him after the things he had done but she just didn't feel regret that she had slept with him. Couldn't, not after the things he had done for her. It seemed petty to let one's mind by so clouded by the actions of one's body, but she couldn't shake the feelings he evoked. And more importantly, the sense that he had good in him.

“At least go down and say a proper goodbye,” said Darcy.

Jane was quiet for a while before finally saying, “Maybe.”

\---

The next time Thor darkened his door, Loki noticed with a wince, he was alone. He needed this like a hole in the head. The magical barrier between them would protect him from physical violence but not from a conversation Loki did not wish to have. But there was a long pause before his brother said anything and Loki sat wondering what was going on. Thor was pacing, his eyes not as bright as they usually were. Dare he hope that Jane and he had not resumed their previous attachment and that this was the cause of Thor’s dejectedness?

When Thor finally spoke it was to say something unexpectedly deep. “Sometimes I think it would have been better if I had not met Jane Foster,” he said.

“You’re not serious,” said Loki. “Even I can see her influence has changed you for the _better.”_ The way he said this last word made Thor think he meant quite the opposite. “And if you hadn’t met her, I couldn’t have saved her,” he said, reasonably.

“If I hadn’t met her, she would not have been looking for me, she would not have found the soft spot in the convergence or been cursed at all,” he said, downcast.

“I think you underestimate her, brother. Jane Foster would have been studying the Convergence whether looking for you or not. I sometimes wonder lately whether you know her at all.”

At this Thor looked up, feeling rather foolish. “And you know her? A week in your bed and you know her better than I?”

Loki just smirked at this as if to say, ‘if the shoe fits…’

“Well,” started Thor, looking a little more smug himself now, “She has spent a week with me now, perhaps we will see if that is all it takes.” At this Loki lunged for the barrier before stopping short of it, pounding his fist against it, not caring how it burned him. Thor simply smiled though and Loki knew he’d been had. For once, it was Thor who was playing him for a reaction.

"You truly care for her then, Loki?" he said. His brother had no reply for this, just looked away with a clenched jaw that tightened his thin lips. Thor thought and paced for a while longer. Loki could see he was building to the real reason for his visit. "I told the All Father once that you could atone for your crimes to the Midgardians one at a time. That you could start with Jane Foster. Now I think perhaps you could carry on in that fashion.”

Here he paused, looking up at Loki for a reaction. He got it, a questioning and curious look crossed Loki’s face and Thor continued. “Loki, let me go to the Avengers. Let me offer them your skills. If we could find a way to have you help the people of earth, perhaps the All Father would consider that a more fitting punishment.”

"You would do that, for me? What makes you so magnanimous? After all I have done to you?"

"I want to see Jane happy, Loki and I do not think she will be if you are left in this cell. But I also wish to see my brother return to me. We were always at our best fighting side by side. If Nick Fury agrees, will you consent?"

"How could you trust me? How could any of them?"

"You forget I have experienced the power of Jane Foster myself. Her friendship means a great deal to you, I can see this. Do not answer now. Think about it and I shall visit you later for your answer."

For a long time there was no reaction, Loki just sat there with a faraway look on his face but eventually, he nodded almost imperceptibly and Thor walked gravely away.

\---

A day later, after a sleepless night considering Thor’s offer and an awkward morning visit in which he had answered it, Loki was surprised to see Jane again, entering the area outside his cell, this time alone.

"I didn't think I'd ever see you again.”

"Yeah, well. I couldn't leave it that way. I'm going back to Earth,” she told him.

"And what have you been doing since I've been in here? Has your stay in Asgard been all that you hoped it would be?” he asked.

“Well, I saw the observatory and the libraries and the labs,” said Jane.

“And Thor had the patience to show you those?” he snorted.

“Stop that, there’s no point,” she sighed.

Of course there wasn't, he thought bitterly, despite Thor’s mixed signals it appeared as though she had forgiven the oaf just like everyone else always did and had gone straight back into his arms. At this realization, Loki started forward but then stopped, remembering the force field between them. Suddenly, Thor’s offer didn’t seem so magnanimous, rather like a continuation of this cell, from which he would have to watch them together. "What are you doing, Jane? Trying him out too, sampling the goods?" he said, as dispassionately was possible.

It was clear to Jane he was trying to look indifferent but he was failing. She could tell he cared a great deal. To her, at least, his eyes were entirely too expressive.

“Can you still want only him, knowing what I can do to you?”

"That isn't compatibility. It’s just chemistry. That doesn’t mean it would work between us. Is that even what you want, a relationship? Or do you just want to keep fucking me to spite your big brother? That's what this is. You don't want me, you just want what belongs to someone else."

"You're wrong, Jane," he said, softly. If there was a chance, he had to take it now. He crouched to be at eye level with her, his leather coat brushing the floor. “I do want you. I’ve always been good at lies, it turns out I’m even good at lying to myself. But know that I won’t let him have you without a fight. I can't give you anything Jane, any guarantee, any assurance of love or of the amount of time we would spend together. But neither can Thor."

"And what about the horrible things you've done, you can't expect me to just forget all about them!"

“I know you’re not going to believe me but I do feel guilt for the things I’ve done. And in a way it’s because of you. I can atone for them. I will atone for them.”

"How do I know that? And how could I trust you?"

There was a long pause, and seeing no end in sight, Jane turned to go.

It was his last chance and he took the plunge, admitting to her the thing he’d thought so long and hard about. "I've sent Thor to Nick Fury. I mean to lend him my services." He said it so quietly she almost didn't hear him.

Jane's jaw dropped at this statement and she turned back to him. "And you think he'll accept?" she said after a moment, her brow furrowing.

"If he has need of my skills," said Loki, quietly. Jane couldn’t think of anyone who wouldn’t have uses for Loki’s skills. It just depended on how crazy Nick Fury really was, or maybe how desperate. “You can’t imagine it, can you? Me, a white shirted hero? Thor’s unloved, monster of a brother?”

Jane just shook her head. “If you're a monster, Loki, it's not because you're a Frost Giant."

At this, Loki made a face she had never seen before, he was seething but it was as if he knew the words were true, his teeth were showing and his nostrils flaring like he wished he could fight back.

“I went to the library, you know. I read all about them. But none of that really matters. The fact is you were raised here. Anything about you that’s monstrous you taught yourself.”

“Then I can teach myself to change,” he said. “You admit this as a possibility?" he said, his eyes almost pleading with her. "If Nick Fury will have me work for him, will you give me a chance to atone to you?"

She took a moment before answering, saying, "Loki, I wish I could believe you." She took a long moment before continuing. "Look, I like the idea of you helping the Avengers. I really do, but don't do it for me. Do it for yourself." And with that, she turned and all he could do was watch her go.

\---

"Director," said Steve Rogers, coming into Nick Fury's office with a surprised look plastered onto his face. "I think you're going to want to hear this." He entered followed by a burly, caped man whose shoulder armor barely allowed him through the door. Following their entry there was a long explanation about imprisonment, a curse, and a fist fight, most of which having to do with Jane Foster.

When Thor finally wrapped up, Fury simply shook his bald head and scoffed, "What is it with this broad? Turns gods into golden retrievers." He sat pondering for a few minutes and seemed to consider some case files on his desk as if assessing their potential. "I'll bite. How do we control him?"

After that the meeting continued for some time.


	21. Epilogue

In the end, it was six months before Jane saw Loki again and in typical fashion, he arrived out of the blue with no warning whatsoever. She entered her mother’s flat in London one day to find him sitting on her couch, reading one of the books she had read while on Asgard. He looked up at her with the barest of smiles on his face and she could tell his feelings hadn’t changed in the slightest.

“How did you get in here?” she asked by way of an ice breaker, putting her keys down and starting to take her outer layers off.

"I'm not a vampire, Jane. You don't have to invite me in," he said, standing. He put the book down and neared her, taking her coat from her hands and hanging it for her, using his princely manners in what she assumed was a calculated move.

“So, what are you doing on Earth? Should I be worried, calling SHEILD?”

“No, I’ve got a few days off actually… And as my current employers they know exactly where I am.”

This surprised her. “So, Fury did need you after all?”

“He did,” Loki smiled, as if remembering a scene that was of great satisfaction to him.

“Well, I’m glad for you. That’s nice.” She didn’t quite know what to say.

“It is, I’m getting to do exactly what I’m good at only this time, no one’s chasing me down for it. Thor’s being a bit hypocritical about it, saying I’m using my ‘vicious nature’, like he can talk, though I suppose you know all about that.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“When you see him, you have to notice it, he’s a boor,"

“I don’t see him,” she said, confused. “Wait, did he tell you he sees me?”

“No, not exactly.” He thought for a moment. “So, you are not…” He seemed not to know how to put it.

“No, we’re not. Anything.” She sighed. “I guess it’s too much to ask for you two to just be honest with each other.”

“Where’s the fun in that?” he smiled. “Actually, we’ve not spoken about you at all. He’s on Asgard at the moment, which is why I’m here. I thought I had a... window. I wanted to…apologize. I hurt you, I took something I shouldn’t have.”

“It’s okay, you don’t have to. You also gave me something I never would have had, so I think we’re even."

“No, we’re not even, not when you’re unhappy and alone."

"I might not be alone," said Jane, defiantly.

"You're alone Jane, I'm alone. I don't want to be and neither do you."

"What good could possibly come of it?"

"You're not serious. Do you know what I've done to be here right now, what I've put up with from the 'Avengers,' the shit they've pulled? Even that self-righteous Captain America-"

"Loki, just stop. I can't do this, I don't even know what 'this' is."

"Jane," he said, coming toward her. "Neither do I, but I want it and so do you. Look, I know I charmed your body last time, but at least give me the chance to do the same with your mind. You have reason to be suspicious, but I promise, I can make you want me for more than merely sex. And while I can't believe I'm even saying those words, know that I do mean them. That's how much I want you Jane, all of you."

He approached her slowly as she backed toward the wall. It wasn’t a looming, menacing approach, it was a slow, tentative approach. Perhaps he thought she might vanish in a puff of smoke before he reached her. When he did, he place one had on the wall beside her head and the other cradled her face. He smiled, not his usual snarling smile meant to intimidate; not his knowing, lascivious smile she had seen on Asgard so many times, but a genuine, guileless smile as if he didn’t think anyone was there to see it.

“I haven’t got a list of the heroic things I’ve done to recommend me, and I don’t think you’re stupid, Jane. I know you wouldn’t fall for that anyway. I’m sorry for lying to Thor about his being unable to touch you. I’m sorry for saying crass things about you. But I’m not sorry for seducing you, Jane and I never will be. All I can suggest is that we pick up and carry on from there.”

Jane thought for several moments about this. She put a hand on his chest and softly pushed him back away from her, his hand falling from her chin as the distance grew. Finally, she said, “I have another suggestion.”

Loki kept quiet for once and urged her with his eyes, eager to hear anything that would give him options with her.

“Let’s start over. For a while, let’s just pretend the whole thing didn’t happen. We can pretend we met at some SHEILD function and that I wasn’t with Thor and that you weren’t in prison.”

“And that you were still woefully inept at sexual relationships?” he teased.

“No, those experiences I’m bringing with me,” she said, and held out her hand for a shake.

“Well then,” he said, seeing nothing else for it and taking her hand in his. “I am pleased to meet you, Jane Foster. I am Loki,” he said and bent to kiss her hand with a ghost of his old lascivious smirk.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, that's it. I'm not completely satisfied with it and I know there are a lot of problems with everyone being OOC and I know I didn't do a very good job of turning it into a love story rather than a lust story among other things (probably bc that wasn' t the original plan). That said, I am continuing to write and may be posting an alternate ending from about chapter 17 onward, or maybe just revising the whole fic. I don't consider it done, as such and so I would really like to read any comments readers may have. It's been a lot of fun though and you guys have always kept me inspired and motivated and I want to thank you for that!


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